Blue Brother
by MoEscoB
Summary: With no past of his own, Shenlong has had to live with the fact that everything he knew and loved was a lie, and spent years mourning the loss of a sister he never had. Just when he has a chance at an actual family and make memories of his own worth cherishing, she snatched away from him again. People always said he was a monster, but he could be Uriko's only hope. Sexual content
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Master Long, I'm ready for the more advanced techniques!" A young teenage zoanthrope exclaimed to her Kenpo teacher.

Uriko was 15 years old school gorl and a zoanthrope fighter. However compaired to the others like he, she was far from formidable. With her beast form being a simple house cat, she was significantly weaker than the other local zoanthrope. She was desperate to prove herself among the others, but Long refused to push her training any further.

"Not until you have perfected the basics and fundamentals." The tiger said sternly. "Run those three forms again. Five times each, and this time Uriko… No mistakes." He looked over his glasses at his pupil before sitting down to practicing his calligraphy.

Uriko stepped back at her teachers look. It wasn't a threatening look, though that would have been easyer for her to handle. Master Long rarely ever showed any emotion on his face. At 28, he was only four years older than her sister Alice, but had spent almost his entire life devoted to training his mind and body. He had only recently moved to the city after their last major battle with Xion and the Tylon Corporation to be better prepared for any future conflict. That, and to be closer to a certain leopard he secretly admired, a fact he would never admit to.

"Fine but I wish you would stop babying me Master." Uriko pouted. "You're the only one my mother will allow me to train with, but you haven't taught me anything new in months!" She continued her rant while performing her forms with an efficiency and fluidity that rivaled her teacher's calligraphy. Long had stopped listening to her quite a while ago as this seemed to have become as routine as their weekly training sessions.

Every Saturday and Sunday, it was the same thing, after completing her homework and morning chores, she would walk to his apartment and they would spend the next five hours training. When they took a break, she would ask him to start teaching her more advanced techniques and he would refuse, stating that she should focus on what she already knew, and at the end of their sessions, she would complain about him babying her.

The truth was Uriko really was ready to continue her training, but Long could not bring himself to teach her. The loss of his little sister years ago had hurt him greatly and seeing Uriko fight in actual combat only served to remind him of her. He knew that advancing her skills would ultimately lead to her being involved in more dangerous battles and that was something he just could not allow to happen. Uriko had filled the void left by his sister and he could not bear to risk her safety.

"That is enough for to day. The sun is beginning to set and you should not be out at night. I will escort you home." His words were smooth and calm. Uriko was old enough to walk herself home but knew it was pointless to argue with her teacher. Besides that it was almost summer, and some pretty strange people came out on these warm nights.

The felines walked quietly through the park as a shortcut back to Uriko's house. "So master." Uriko broke the silence between them. "How are things between you and Shina going?" she asked playfully. Long was caught off guard by the bluntness of her question and nearly choked on his breath.

"What do you mean?" he asked attempting to sound unfazed. "I'm sure Ms. Gado is doing quite well. She is more than capable of taking care of herself." Uriko began to giggle at her teacher's embarrassment. "Which is more than I can say for you little miss Uriko." He said in a matter of fact voice.

Uriko's laughter came to a stop and she stuck her tongue out at him a childish way. "Well maybe if you stopped babying me and continued my training I could be strong like Shina!" She was now confident in herself because she knew she was right at this point. She walked ahead of him with her head up high before a man jumped out of the bushes with a knife.

"How's it goin toots?" He said with a devilish grin. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here with a loser lookin guy like him?" Uriko was becoming irritated with the man's boasts and insults. As he continued talking her temper rose. "Hmph! Hey four-eyes that's some pretty fancy outfit you got on there. Something like that must have cost a pretty penny, and I'm willing to bet there's more where that came from. So how about you hand over all the money you got and no one will get hurt."

The man was so caught up with his own speech he didn't even notice that Long had walked right past him ad was dragging a now fuming Uriko by the collar of her shirt.

"HEY I'M TALKIN HEAR!" he shouted but Long did not stop while Uriko continued shouting an incoherent mixture of taunts, insults, and threats at the man. "Don't you walk away from me, you coward!" He yelled while running to catch up with them. At hearing his last remark Uriko was in frenzy. She flailed her arms about and was wearing out the souls of her shoes trying to free herself from Longs grip.

The man leapt at them with his knife drawn. "I'll teach you not to ignore me, you bastard!" he shouted getting closer to them.

"MASTER!" Uriko shouted and as if on cue, Long tossed the girl into the air, spun and gave the man a straight kick to the gut that made him drop his weapon and sent him flying skyward toward his student. The thug's eyes widened as he got closer to Uriko just as she began to flip forward and delivered a punishing axe kick to the mans face sending him back down like a bullet.

He was flying to the ground face first and thought he was surly going to die the moment his face made contact with the ground. He clenched his eyes at the last moment when he suddenly stopped. He felt him self snatched by his belt and was lost as to what just happened. He opened his eyes and looked around noting that he was being held off the ground. He looked up to see long holding him with one hand but as soon as his eyes met Long's face, Long let him drop to the ground.

"What the hell are you? Some kinda freak…." He was cut off by Uriko finally coming down landing square on his stomach making him pass out.

"Serves you right, you jerk!" she scoffed; her anger finally subsiding.

"Shall we continue Ms. Uriko?" Long motioned to her house which was now in clear view. She nodded and they were soon at the Nonomura household.

"Geez I hope no one saw our little show out there in the park." She said as they walked up the stairs to her front door. "Alice would flip her lid if she saw me fighting like tha…" as soon as they reached the door Alice practically ripped it off the hinges and had a first aid kit in hand.

"OHMYGOSH URIKO I WAS SO WORRIED!" Alice exclaimed.

"And here we go..." Uriko said under her breath.

"Hurry, come inside so I can take a look at you." She rushed both of them into the living room and began wrapping her sister with bandages. "I saw that horrible man with a knife and got so scared. I called mom and she…"

"WAIT! You did WHAT?" Uriko interrupted her sisters rambling in shock of what she just said.

"Yea, I called mom. I though she should know immediately so I called her and she…" Alice was interrupted again, this time by her mother, barging into the room. As soon as Mitsuko saw her youngest child wrapped in bandages, she set her eyes on Long.

"HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN TO MY BABY GIRL? SHE BEGS ME TO LET YOU TRAIN HER AND YOU LET THIS HAPPEN! DON'T YOU KNOW THERE ARE CRAZY PEOPLE OUT WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN!" Mitsuko was shouting while ringing Long's neck.

"Mom." Uriko interrupted. "I'm ok, see? Alice let me go." She stood up and peeled away the bandages her sister had used to practically mummify her. As the bandages came off to reveal Uriko's smooth pail skin, Mitsuko noticed a small scrape on her forearm.

"YOU LET MY BABY GET HURT!" Mitsuko launched Long out of the nearby window and he crashed amongst the garbage cans out front.

"Mom…" Uriko got her mothers attention again. She licked her thumb and whipped the spot her mom thought was a scrape. "It was just dirt mom. I'm telling you I'm fine." Her mother simply smiled and walked over to the now shattered window and waved to Long.

"Sorry dear. My mistake. Don't worry about the window; Uriko will be by in a week for more training. You have a good evening now." She waved him off with a smile, and he bowed his goodbye.

'Such a peculiar family.' He thought to himself as he headed off into the night.

As Long walked home he heard the distinct sound of large wings flapping. He looked into the distance to see what looked like a large bat flying into the city toward a tall building, and immediately Long knew where she was going. He sighed to himself "Jenny." He said in a worrisome tone. "Shina is not going to like this. Not one bit."

He changed course and ran toward the inner city. When he got to the other side of the park, he swiftly scaled a fire escape completely unnoticed. Upon reaching the roof he transformed and the tiger continued to his target with great speed.

Only a few blocks away at this point he stopped atop a water tower on the roof of a tall building to see how close Jenny was to her target. His keen emerald eyes pierced through the dark to see her circling over the building. Long wasted no time in closing the distance between himself and the building.

Jenny swooped onto a balcony of the building's penthouse, changed and stroled into the dark apartment. Long was not far behind and nimbly leapt from the roof of a neighboring building, landing silently on a fire escape and making his way to the balcony. He changed back and confronted Jenny.

"Jenny what are you up to." He questioned. "You know Shina will not be happy that you decided to just drop in uninvited."

Jenny only smirked back to him in the dark when a voice was heard from in the across the room. "Who said she wasn't invited?" Gado said in a relaxed tone of voice. He cut on the light to reveal himself in tan cargo pants and no shirt. Gado was almost 50, but despite his age and countless scars, he was the picture of physical fitness and quite intimidating. "However, I did not expect a visit from you as well." He finished rubbing the back of his neck.

The trio made there way to a large room with a wall of windows that faced east overlooking the city. The room was simply decorated with some couches a coffee table and a few well-framed pictures on the wall. Long had been to the Gado's home before but never secede to be impressed. When he noticed that there were not sounds coming from the rest of the home. "Is your daughter not home?" He questioned the older man.

"Actually Long, Shina recently moved into the building across the street. Her condo is only two floors lower than this one." He informed the Kenpo master. Long was confused because whenever he came to see her, it was always here at her father's condo. "But she does still have a room here, and actually chooses to stay here rather than at her own place most of the time." Gado chuckled.

"So, what's with the house call sugar?" Jenny asked seductively, which also puzzled Long. Even though Jenny appeared to be in her twenties, no one knew how old she actually was. One thing was for sure, that she and Gado definitely went way back, and in these times of peace have become quite close to one another. Much to Shina's contempt.

Gado had to clear his throat to keep his composure. "Well you see, recently Shina has been coming over smelling like blood. At first I thought nothing of it, perhaps the result of her beast training out in the forest. But one night Shenlong had to carry her home because she was so badly beaten." Gado said straightly.

Long clenched his jaw at the thought of Shina getting hurt, but more so at the thought of Shenlong being the one to care for her instead of him, or anyone else. Gado quietly took note of the young tiger's reaction.

"I know you and your clone do not always see eye to eye." Gado said sympathetically. "And in truth I was weary of him myself for a while. That boy has been through a lot in his life and caused a lot of pain." He paused briefly to organize his thoughs. "But I have noticed a change in him lately. However small it may be. Though he still goes looking for trouble and keeps to himself, Shina has even recognized that he has become a better person."

This information had Long baffled, and internally fuming. 'Could she be developing feelings for him? What about us? We always enjoy eachother's company and she has even stayed at my apartment on a few occasions. What is going on?' His mind was racing.

"He may be pretty rough around the edges, but there is no denying that Shenlong is actually a pretty good guy when he wants to be. And for that I trust him." Gado finished.

"Wow, sounds like the big blue lug has become quite the gentleman." Jenny said lightly. "Are you sure you can trust him though sugar? Especially with that precious daughter of yours. Who knows what his true intentions are…" She finished with a villanous smirk.

It was no secret that Shina hated Jenny for being so close to her father. Their rivalry for the lion's affection was even more powerful than the friction between the two tigers.

"I think I should go." Long stood and began to walk to the door. Gado walked with him and stopped him just outside of the door.

"Before you go, I would like to have a word with you." He said softly and Long obliged.

"I know things between you and Shenlong are rough at best." He started. "But I assure you he is not the same black hearted man he once was. He has proven it to me, as well as Shina and many of the others. You of all people should know how much a man is capable of changing if given enough time. Besides that you two are practically brothers and it would be best if you could learn to at least get along."

"He is NOT my brother." Long said sternly. "A mindless brute like him could never be related to me." Long scoffed

There were a few seconds of silence betweent the men, before it ws broken by Gado. "May I tell you something?" He paused and Long looked up at him, still with a disgusted expression on his face at the thought of being related to the other tiger.

"He looks up to you, you know." Gado said leaning against his doorframe. "It was a while ago. Shina and I got into another argument about Jenny and she stormed off. I went down town to a bar to try and calm my nerves with some Scotch…"

~_Flash Back~_

"_Hey scar face! What brings the king of beasts out to the slums with these common folk?" Shenlong mocked only serving to further irritate Gado. _

"_Beat it Stripes! I'm not in the mood to put up with your foolishness tonight, got it!" He said with a threatening tone._

"_Hey, hey, now calm it down. You know I didn't mean anything by it." He said patting Gado's shoulder. "Look why don't you come have a drink and try to make this a good night huh?" He grinned and pointed to a table with his thumb._

"_Fine, if it will shut you up." Gado grumbled._

"_Quit whining and grab a chair already." Long said with a smirk._

_Shenlong was tossing them back, one drink after the other. It didn't matter what it was as long it had alcohol he would take it. Gado was still completely sober only on his third glass of scotch watered down with plenty of ice._

"_Oh man! All that over the old bat?" He laughed obnoxiously._

"_Watch it smurf!" Gado warned taking another swig of his drink._

"_I'm just sayin. Shinas quite the fire cracker when she gets goin, huh?" He asked finishing off another drink._

"_Yea, but what are ya gunna do. When she feels strongly about or against something she wont back down." Gado said sighing to himself._

_Shenlong's intoxicated laughter had stopped, and his voice became much more somber. _

"_Yea I hear you. She reminded me of that the other day when she kicked me square in the face." He rubbed his cheek where he remembered he got kicked like a soccer ball. "Why does she hate me so much anyway?" he asked sounding depressed. He layed his head on the table and looked up at Gado through hazy eyes._

_Gado raised an eyebrow at the young mans change in demeanor. "Well according to her, you're an arrogant bastard who thinks that because you have money, you should get whatever you want. After that she would go off on a rant. What Long says isn't much better. Actually it's the same thing she says just more polite." Gado finished._

"_Oh yea… that's why…" Shenlong said in a sorry tone. "Long... That jerk…" Shenlong started. Gado only looked at him while he seemingly talked no one. "That bastard has everything doesn't he? Except money, that's for sure. At least I'm rich and he's socially retarded." He said chuckling to himself. "I'm even a better fighter than he is... But still…" Shenlong stopped and seemed lost in his thoughts._

"_But what?" Gado questioned._

"_But at least he had a real life. Real memories, real experiences, a real family… all of my memories were made by a madman with a fancy computer. He even gave me some of Longs memories to make up part of my so-called child hood." Shenlong stopped to take another drink but stopped and dropped it on the floor. _

"_Those monsters who made me… even let me think I had a little sister… and that I let her die." He said with a huff. "Her name was Rinrei and she would have been about 14 years old now, if she was alive." Gado's eyes went wide at the sudden disclosure. Long never talked about his past, or his family. Much less any siblings._

"_Are you telling me that Long actually had a little sister? Or was that just something made up by the organization?" Gado asked trying not to sound too forward._

"_Yep!" Shenlong shouted. "The golden boy had a baby sister." He sat up and looked Gado in the face. "And he's the one who let her die." His eyes were now puffy and red. Gado thought he was about to break down and cry._

"_I had no idea…" Gado said turning away from him, at a loss for words at this point. Shenlong looked at him and recomposed himself._

"_They made me belive I turned my back on her when she was struggling with her powers. That I was so caught up with my own transformations, that I refused to help her when she needed me most. Just thinking about it pisses me off! For years that hung over my head, I wanted to die. And then out of the blue here's a guy who looks like he could be my twin!" He began waving his arms in the air and smiling while he spoke._

"_I thought finally someone some one who would understand me." He chuckled, and looked down and dropped his shoulders. "Then that bastard Tylon had to ruin it, and send reality crashing down around me._

'_**You're just a clone**__.' _

_Sadistic bastard… ___

'_**Some of your memories are actually his; the rest were all fabricated by yours truley.' **_

_I can still hear him laughing." Shenlong was laughing but his eyes were full of sorrow. Gado had no idea what to do in this situation. He had never seen Shenlong of all people be vulnerable in any way. What he said next changed how Gado viewed him from that point on._

"_Tylon escaped, and Long had a lot of explaining to do! I attacked him for letting Rinrei die. But he said that he did everything that he could too save her from her fate." He smirked as he continued._

"_I didn't buy it for a second until… until I heard that freak Busuzima talking in his lab. Everything Long said… all of it…. It was true." The tiger stood from the table and started stumbling toward the door. _

_Gado wasn't sure weather to help him at this point and stop his talking, or simply watch him and see how far this confession went. He chose the later as Shenlong bumped into tables and eventually found himself leaning against the doorframe. He looked into the sky to see storm clouds had gathered in the seemingly short time they had been in the bar. He shifted himself so he could look directly at Gado as the rains fell just behind him._

"_I hate that man because he is everything I'm not… and…. He's the closest thing I'll ever have to family. Even if all of his family died, at least he had them." He finished with a sigh before falling from the doorframe face down into the rain soaked street. Gado couldn't just leave him so he took him back to his condo until he woke up and left without a word._

_~End Flash Back~_

Long had been intently listening to the older man's story and was having a difficult time believing Shenlong actually felt that way and said those words. Long's racing mind was interrupted once again by Gado's voice.

"Just try to understand him. You two share a lot more than DNA believe it or not." Gado said with a light smile. Long simply nodded and started down the hall and got on the elevator.

Gado went back into his home to his other guest who had made herself quite comfortable by stretching out on a couch and grabbing herself a glass of red wine.

"That was quite the interesting tale you told sugar." She said lightly taking a sip from her glass. "Now tell me, was all of that true or did you just catch a tiger by the tail?" he finished with a light laugh.

Gado wasn't surprised that she had heard everything that was said between him and Long. "Well hun, you know I'm not the type to tell a lie. All of it was 100% straight from the tiger's mouth." He said raising his palm.

"Heh, I believe the correct term is from the horse's mouth but I see your point." She snickered. "Now then, since I'm normally the one who calls for a good time..." She said temtatiosly. "I can only assume that you need my assistance with that daughter of yours." She set her glass on the table and crossed her legs.

Brought back to reality, Gado sat on a chair opposite of Jenny and rested his elbows on his knees. "You're right, as always." He started. "She's been out fighting but won't tell me anything." He sighed and looked down at the table. "Whenever I try to talk to her about it, she mentions you and gets angry before storming off."

Jenny scoffed at first, but she could hear the concern in her lover's voice. Shina never approved of their relationship, partially because of how much younger Jenny appeared than her father. But what really bothered her was that even though she was only Gado's adopted child, she was very much her father's daughter and couldn't stand the thought of another woman taking him from her.

"Well sugar, it's no secret that your little kitten can't stand me. But what exactly do you want me to do? That's the question I need answered." Jenny said flatly starting to get impatient.

Gado rubbed his eyelids and decided to just come out with it. "I need you to follow her and find out where she's going and getting beaten so badly." He said hastily and looked at Jenny anticipating her answer.

There were a few moments of silence, "Alright, I'll do it." She answered plainly with a shrug. Gado was surprised that she didn't put up any kind of fight. He started to smile and thank her but was quickly cut off. "However!" She started sternly. Jenny stood up and walked over to him with a seductive look in her eye. "You owe me for this one sugar. And I mean BIG!" She kissed him lightly, and turned to walk toward the balcony. "I'll tell you what I find in a few days." She said with a wave, then quickly transformed and took flight. Gado was left with a loss for words. 'What did I just get myself into?' he thought to himself. He simply rubbed his head and went back to bed.

Across town Uriko's night hadn't made much improvement. "URIKO, 10 more minutes and I want you off the phone okay sweetie?" Mitsuko called from down stairs.

"BUT MOM I'M TALKING TO KENJI! BESIDES ITS ONLY 9:30!" The girl retorted.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER. YOUR LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL STARTS IN THE MORNING, AND YOU NEED PLENTY OF REST FOR YOUR EXAMS. BESIDES ALICE DIDN'T SPEND THIS MUCH TIME ON THE PHONE WITH YUGO IN HIGH SCHOOL. 10 MINUTES." Mitsuko said a bit more sternly this time.

"SHE DIDN'T KNOW YUGO IN HIGHSCHOOL MOM!" Uriko was getting more frustrated by the second. She could only sigh to herself, and go back to talking to her boyfriend. "Kenji I swear there are too many women in this house! And knowing Alice she will probably want to stay the night so she can walk me to school tomorrow. Why does everyone treat me like just a little kid?" she whined.

Kenji could only laugh, she sounded so cute when she got all worked up like this. "I'm sure it's just cus they care Uriko. Remember when I got back from my ninja training and Yugo was extra protective for no reason?" Kenji said with a laugh trying to lighten his girlfriend's mood.

"Yea I remember, you ended up running away and Alice found you. That's how we ended up meeting." She said with a light blush remembering her first incounter with the young mole. "But at least Yugo never babyed you. He protected you but still gave you your space." Her tone back to frustration remembering how only a few hours ago her mom had launched her Kenpo teacher out of a window, and Alice had practically suffocated her with gauze. "My family goes way past protective and is just smothering me."

"I wouldn't know what that's like. I've never had a sister or mom. At least I don't think so. I still have no memory of my life before Yugo found me. So as far back as I can remember I have always had a brother looking out for me and helping me grow up. The fact that your sister distracts most of his free time isn't bad either." He continued joking still trying to lighten the kitten's mood.

"Uriko!" Alice burst into the room wearing her pajamas. "Guess who's walking you to school on her way to the hospital tomorrow." She cheered in a singsong voice.

"UHHHGGG! ALICE I TOLD YOU STOP BURSTING INTO MY ROOM!" Uriko screamed, but her sister only laughed, as Kenji remained quiet on the phone.

"Aww Uriko you're so cute when you get all worked up." She said with a giggle. "Oh yea and mom says get off the phone for the night." She snatched the phone from her little sister and ended the call.

"YOU JERK! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Uriko shrieked.

"Would you rather have mom come rip the phone out of the wall?" She asked in a teasing voice.

"You could have at least let me say goodnight to him first! How would you like it if the second mom said it was time for him to go I judo kicked Yugo out of the window?" She asked enraged.

"Silly Uriko," Alice giggled. "I moved out remember. I could just go stay at his house for the night." Uriko would have sworn Alice was mocking her with that answer and was ready to attack her on the spot.

"YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE! I WISH I HAD AN OLDER BROTHER SO SOMEONE IN THIS HOUSE WOULDN'T TREAT ME LIKE A BABY!" Alice had to cover her ears to shield them from the volume of her sister's voice. The fact that a smile never left her face only bugged Uriko more.

"Ok girls enough playing around up there. Its time for light's out." Mitsuko yelled from the kitchen.

"You heard her." Uriko scoffed folding her arms and glaring at her sister before turning to face out the window. "Get out of my room."

"Aww, but Uriko I haven't even tucked you in." The elder sister said sweetly, and bounded over to her sister.

"Tuck me in…?" Uriko raised an eyebrow at the foolish suggestion. Before she knew it Alice had tackled her to the bed and was attempting to wrap her tightly in he sheets.

"What are you doing? Get off me. ALICE GET OFF!" She her anger made her transform and with a feral sounding "MEOW!" The half cat had launched Alice out of the room into a wall across the hall where she fell to her knees. Alice winced in pain at the bump forming on the back of her head and looked up to see her transformed little sister hiss and slam the door.

Mitsuko looked up the stairs at her eldest child. "Whats going on up there? I sad no rough housing!" she said sternly.

"Oh nothing mom." She smiled down to her mother. "Just saying goodnight to Uriko. I think I will turn in for the night too."

"Ok hun, goodnight. I'll have breakfast ready in the morning before you take your sister to school. She's going to need a balanced breakfast if she's going to do well on her last few tests." Mitsuko waved her daughter off for the night.

Uriko spent the next few hours calming herself down and thinking of a way to escape the madness that was her family. She only had three days of class before the summer vacation started and the women in her family would all but stuff her in a diaper and a high chair. She had to find a way to escape for the summer or she would lose her mind. She drifted off into sleep with nightmares of her sister and mom bringing her a bottle of milk and a rattle in public. She squirmed and whined in her sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day passed smoothly for every one. Well… almost everyone. Uriko was jolted awake by Alice jumping onto her bed and ripping the covers off of her and throwing open the blinds to let the blinding light of the morning sun hit Uriko's shocked face. All of this resulted in her once again transforming and launching her elder sister from the room. A dent was starting to form in the wall from where the rabbit's head would make contact. Luckily on the walk to school Yugo and Kenji had intercepted them only a short ways from the house. Apparently Kenji convinced the wolf to join him on the morning walk to school after hearing Alice yell into Uriko's room the previous night. For this Uriko was thankful because the odd couple kept each other occupied long enough for the youngsters to run ahead and well out of their sight.

"Do I even need to ask what happened to you last night?" Kenji laughed. Uriko blushed with embarrassment trying to remember just how much went on before her sister hung up the phone.

"Alice huh?" He asked lightly, and was answered with a nod from his girlfriend.

Uriko sighed out loud and faced began to stare off into the distance as they continued walking.

"You're lucky that you have an older brother Kenji." She looked up at passing clouds and kept in step with her boyfriend. "Alice can be so unbearable most of the time and my mom only adds to that flame. Its not that I don't love them, because I really do, but I could really use a break from time to time." She looked over at him for a response and perhaps some helpful advice.

"I didn't realize it was that bad Uriko. Wow. Isnt there anywhere you can go to escape for a little while?" he questioned.

"Ha, I wish!" She shouted throwing her hands into the air. "Remember when I stayed with you and Yugo over the spring break?"

"Yea… Oh yea. That didn't go so well. It was supposed to just be you, but Alice came along and made Yugo help her spy on us the entire break. We ended up sneaking back to your house and the old people had the house to themselves." Just thinking about it made his face turn sour. Then he remembered another time Uriko talked about getting away.

"Didn't you stay with Long over winter break before that?" He asked hoping to bring up a pleasant experience.

Uriko rubbed her head remembering the incident. "Yea, about that." She tried to make the most innocent face she could but Kenji saw through it easily.

"What did you do?" he asked playfully.

"Well, that didn't exactly go as planned. You see mom and Alice were being more obnoxious than usual so instead of coming home I went straight to Master Long's apartment. When I told him why I didn't want to go home, he immediately dragged me back to my mother." She said with a pitiful sigh.

"And to make things worst, the only reason she let me go back with him is because he told her I would go through intensive training with him in the mountain outside of the city." She said almost weeping.

"You mean up where the fog gets freakishly thick in the mornings? That's a little extreme. He's a tiger and a kung-fu master. Both of those spend a lot of time in mountains and forests on their own. It was probably a lot like my ninjutsu training." He said wide eyed remembering how he almost didn't survive the training his old master put him through.

"Wait… I remember seeing you a bunch of times that winter. What happened?" he pondered.

"We ran into Shenlong." She said uncertainly. "Actually I only saw him from a distance. I'm still not sure if Master Long ever talked to him. I just remember Master did not want to be on the same mountain as him and brought me back home. I actually didn't have to do any training the entire break. After that I didn't see him for about three weeks." She touched a finger to her chin and tried to figure out why her master hated Shenlong so much.

"I heard rumors that there is a water fall somewhere in those woods, but Master Long said he had never found it before, and mom will never let me go up there alone." Her mind shifting back to what she was actually looking forward to about being in the mountain. Besides the waterfall she was also looking forward to spending a lot of time in her beast mode. Aside from two or three small towns around the base of the mountain, no one was around to see them and they could basically run wild.

"Yea I head about that too. Yugo talked about going up to sniff it out at the end of summer. You want to tag along? Your sister is too much of girly girl to want to fallow us up there." He said gleaming a toothy smile.

"Sounds fun. I wonder if we will run into Shenlong up there, the last time someone came here from town they talked about a blue tiger in the morning mists. That's why humans avoid going very far into the forest or high into the mountain. She said hunters have tried to track it in the winter because the snow gets deep and prints are easy to follow but even though people still see it from time to time, there are never any tracks." She was puzzled by the idea of a blue tiger that left no tracks. She looked to Kenji for possible answers but he was just as lost as she was.

"That is weird." He said lightly.

"Do you think it could be Shenlong? His beast form is a blue tiger after all so it would make sense." She concluded.

"It could be but my brother told me Shenlong lives here in the city. They even work out together at the gym where he goes to box on weekends." This only deepened the pair's curiosity. Before they knew it, they were standing in front of Uriko's school. She was two years younger than Kenji, so while this would be her last year of middle school, it was his second year in high school.

"Well this is your stop my dear." Kenji said playfully as he motioned to the front door with his hand. Uriko giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Talk to ya later Kenji." She said with a wink, bounding up a few stairs and into the building. Kenji watched her as she disappeared in the crowd of students and didn't realize Alice and Yugo had caught up with him.

"Kenji you little perv." Alice giggled. "Are you staring at those middle school girls? I don't think Uriko would like that very much." She said with a wink.

Yugo laughed at his little brother's embarrassment, causeing him to pout.

"Oh calm down little brother. She's only teasing." He finished laughing. "Anyway, do want us to walk with you the rest of the way to your school or can you handle it from here?"

"Thanks bro, but I think I got it from here. I wouldn't want to distract you two from your puppy love." He said sarcasticly mocking his brother.

Yugo started to blush. "Why you little…" But before he could finish Kenji used his ninjutsu to teleport away to his school.

Alice laughed at Yugo's flushed face. "You two are so cute." She giggled and kissed him on the cheek making his blush vanish.

"It must be so much fun to have a little brother. Even though I spend a lot of time with Uriko our relationship is nothing like yours and Kenji's." She said with a light frown hugging herself to Yugo's arm.

"Yea its pretty fun, but Kenji and I are guys remember." He said with a sarcastic laugh. "So of course our we are going to be different from you and your sister. You are girls after all, so it does make sense." He patted her shoulder to reassure his lover.

"You're probably right. Uriko can be a little tomboyish sometimes, but she's a wonderful baby sister." She nuzzled Yugo's arm as they walked to the subway they both had work on opposite ends of the city. But much to their delight they could catch their trains at the same station. Occasionally Yugo would simply drive and drop Alice off but today that wasn't the case.

Everyone's day flew by pretty smoothly. Yugo had the W.O.C. far ahead of schedule on all of their projects.

Gado had a conference call with the United Nations concerning zoanthropes around the world and their impact on international relations. It could not be ignored that change was happening across the globe, and humans were proving to be more dangerous than any zoanthrope. In northern Europe abortion rates were on the rise, as families feared their child being born a zoanthroape. Violence was against zoanthropes was increasing in the east. North and South America had declared several protection laws for zoanthropes but their effectiveness varied across the continent. In some places zoanthropes were accepted, in others hated, in some parts of the world they were even worshiped. The world was in terrible state and Gado did everything in his power to ensure the safety and freedoms of both zoanthropes and humans.

Jenny monitored Shina who had gotten a job at a studio gym teaching self-defense classes. She used the position as a way to keep and shape and as a cover for occasional mercenary jobs she would take.

Long had gotten a quiet day job working at the city library and Mitsuko was working at the northend of the docks as a fish mounger. She was also the head manager in charge of a few docks used by fishing and crabbing vessels. She may have been strict at home but that was nothing compared to how she ran her docks. Sloppiness would not be tolerated and when a ship came in with cargo that needed to be moved, there was no hesitation. Mitsuko was as intimidating in her human form as the razor back boar she was inside, and infinitely more dangerous than any wild hog. She kept everyone safe and everything moving smoothly. Anyone who would threaten that was quickly thrown to the sea.

As the work and school day progressed, the day's pace slowed down for some. Uriko had passed her first exam with flying colors and was determined to keep things that way. So after a phone call to her mother she had gotten permission to spend a few hours after school studying with class mates.

Kenji went about his usual routine of practicing his ninjutsu before meeting his brother at the gym to see him box.

Shina left the studio and headed uptown to a coffeeshop where she would enjoy a variety of teas and meditate before going back down town for her next class.

Alice and Mitsuko were back home preparing dinner and awaiting Uriko's return. A knock came at the door and instantly Alice leapt to the door and through it open expecting to see her little sisters smiling face. But was quite surprised to see Long.

"Long? What are you doing here? We were expecting Uriko." She said still full of confusion. Long stared back for a moment but was snapped back into reality by the mention of his students name.

"Um, yes… my apologies. I was hoping to speak with Mitsuko about something." He said plainly.

"WHO'S AT THE DOOR SWEETY?" Mitsuko shouted for the kitchen.

"It's Uriko's teacher Long! He says he wants to talk to you about something." She yelled back to her mother, who walked to the door while drying her hands with a cloth.

"Oh hello there Long, please come in. Is everything alright with Uriko?" She asked politely. Alice stepped aside and Mitsuko lead them to the living room and offered him a seat.

"Yes, Uriko is doing well. She and a few of her friends were studying in the library when I left. Mitsuko I wish to talk to you about something more personal. Alice you may also be able to offer more helpful insight." He adjusted his glasses and awaited a response from the women. The mother and daughter looked at each other puzzled and then back to Long and nodded.

"Well yes dear, we will help how ever we can. Now what seems to be the problem?" Mitsuko asked pleasantly.

"Thank you, I greatly appreciate it." He bowed his head.

"I suppose I should get straight to the point then. What would you say makes a family? Even though Alice is adopted she is no less family than she would be if there were actual blood ties between you." He asked plainly.

Mitsuko took some time to consider his words and come up with an answer.

"Well you're right Long. Alice is adopted, and she is just as much my daughter as Uriko is. What makes a family is love for one another and an unspoken bond that you all share. I hope you understand, because I just can't think of a better way to word it." She said looking softly at Alice.

Long looked down and pinched his chin in his thumb and index finger, processing Mitsuko's word's on one hand what she said was very true for the way he felt toward Uriko. But far from what he felt for Shenlong.

"Perhaps you are right. It would explain some things…" He said lightly, almost too quietly to be heard. His last statement intrigued both of the women.

"What kind of things?" Alice asked in a curious almost childish tone.

"Well Uriko wants me to advance her training more but I fear that by doing so, I will have only put her in line for more intense and dangerous battles." Long sighed and cupped his forehead in his hand.

"But when I try to explain that to her she only says I'm treating her like a child. Maybe she's right; maybe I am holding her back. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to her, she reminds me so much of…" He caught himself, realizing he was divulging too much. He cleared his throat.

"Never mind that. Do you have any suggestions as how I should go about training Uriko?" He asked in an attempt to shift the conversation.

"Awww, you've begun to think of her as a little sister haven't you?" Alice asked sweetly thinking it was nice that Long cared for her little sisters safety.

"I am not sure if it has gotten to that point just yet. For now I am asking as her teacher who is concerned for his students well being." He said flatly. Alice and Mitsuko shared a glance and a light smile.

"Well Long to tell you the truth, I never wanted my girls to fight in the first place, but they insisted and now Alice is a skilled fighter and a successful nurse. I'm sure Uriko will find her place soon enough. But for now I say do what you feel is best, and don't mind Uriko. Children her age are in such a hurry to grow up, she says the same things about Alice and me. She just doesn't realize we're looking out for her well being much like you are." The mother finished light heartedly. Feeling better about the situation, Long stood and excused himself.

"Thank you for all of your help ladies. It was most insightful." He closed the door behind him and began walking home in the light of the setting sun. About a block away he passed Uriko on her way home.

"Good evening Uriko." He patted her on the head, which made her pout a little.

"Good evening Master." She said pushing his hand away. "What brings you out here?" she asked.

"Nothing really, just looking to learn a few things. Anyway I must be off; see you this weekend for training." He patted her head again, which at this point was more than a little irritating. Then he just walked off toward his apartment.

"Yea, sure thing." She said sarcastically before turning to finish the walk home. She pouted and ranted to herself the rest of the way, forcing herself to calm down when she reached her front door.

"I'm home." She called into the house. Before she could even close the door, Alice had wrapped her arms around her.

"Welcome home Uriko! How was your exam? Long says you have been studying really hard, we know you're going to pass with flying colors." Alice cheered while smothering her sister in a hug.

"GET OFF ME RABBIT!" the girl shouted. "Wait… did you say Master Long was here?" She asked puzzled. Alice nodded in response.

"Oh you must have passed your big brother on the way home." Mitsuko said pleasantly. "He came to talk about your training."

"My training?" She began pondering why he would have to talk to her family about her training. Then she came to another realization. "Wait did you say brother?" She glared at Alice.

"ALICE HOW COULD YOU? You're supposed to be dating Yugo how could you play him like this, and with Master Long of all people. You're absolutely disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself!" The young girl scolded her sister who only put waved her hands at the idea and tried to explain between Uriko's words.

"No, no, you don't understand. It's nothing like that. Let me explain." Alice tried but Uriko wouldn't let up.

"Uriko." Their mother called from across the room. "Let your sister explain, everything will be clear if you do."

"Mom!" Uriko ran over to her mother. "How long have you known about this? I mean I know Yugo's a wolf and the two of you would normally be on his menu but you've said it yourself he's not a mindless animal. He treats Alice like a princess and you like a queen. And THIS is how she repays his faithfulness? By two –timing him with Master Long, who by the way is a tiger. That's just as bad if not worst than a wolf! I can't believe that you support this madness or that you let me train with that creep! Not to mention…"

"URIKO! SIT DOWN, BE QUIET, AND LET YOUR SISTER TALK!" Mitsuko thundered, causing Uriko to fall back on her bottom and give her sister a sharp look.

"Fine I'll hear what she has to say." The young girl scoffed.

"Well you see, it's like this…" Alice told Uriko of the brief discussion with her teacher.

"So… you're not two-timing Yugo?" She asked making sure she heard everything right.

"Nope, I'm still head over heels for Yugo." Alice beamed a smile at her sister.

"And the reason Master Long wont advance my training is because he doesn't want me to get into dangerous fights?" She looked down to consider his reasoning.

"Yep, that's pretty much it." Alice giggled. Uriko took a second to process all of it, and then came to an abrupt conclusion.

"Well that's just stupid!" She said bluntly. Both Mitsuko and Alice's smile dropped and Mitsuko was angry at her daughters disrespect for her teachers concerns.

"Uriko! You will not disrespect your teacher like that!" Her mother said sternly making Uriko flinch.

"Sorry mom but its true." Uriko said plainly. "I don't learn martial arts so I can go looking for fights. You've raised me much better than that. We are zoanthropes and because of that, and nothing else there is no shortage of people who would want to hurt us. Mom you know that even better than I do. That's why you only transform in emergencies and teach me and Alice to do the same." She said looking directly at her mother.

Alice only dropped her head because what Uriko was saying was true but wished it things didn't have to be that way. Mitsuko was becoming irritated by Uriko's tone.

"I learn Kenpo so I can defend myself and handle any problem that I might come up against. But I won't be able to do that if all of you keep treating me like such a child!" Uriko said forcefully.

"That's enough young lady!" Mitsuko said in a stern and cold tone. "You will not talk down to me or your sister. Do you understand me?" Mitsuko was furious at this point. Never before had Uriko acted like this. One thing was certain; Mitsuko would not tolerate this kind of attitude from her own child.

"Go to your room, do your homework, get cleaned up and go to bed. If you have enough energy to behave this way then you don't need supper keeping you up all night. Now, GO!" She ordered pointing a finger up the stairs.

Uriko did as she was told and sat quietly in her room texting Kenji in an attempt to distract herself when there was a knock at her door.

"Uriko. Can I talk to you?" Alice asked shyly, standing at the door.

"No. I don't want to hear it. I finally try to explain to you guys that I'm not a baby anymore and this is what happens." Uriko scoffed Alice walked in and sat at the foot of her sister's bed.

"Uriko try to understand. We're all just looking out for you, that's all." Alice said trying t sound comforting.

"If that's so then why don't any of you ever listen? I just told you don't come in and yet here you are." She motioned to where her sister was sitting to prove her point.

"Oh Uriko, why can't you understand that…" Alice was cut off by her sisters continued rant.

"No! Why can't YOU understand that I'm not a baby anymore? It's like none of you understand me at all." Uriko was on the verge of tears when her phone battery suddenly died when she tried to open Kenji's txt message.

"Gosh, Kenji really has it made. I wish I had a brother! The way he has Yugo. I bet then things would be different." She said burying her head in her pillow.

"Well you know…." Alice giggled remembering what Long was saying a little while ago. "Your teacher Long can be like a big brother if you need him to be." She finished with a smile.

"Master Long?" She said sternly sitting up from her pillow. "Not a chance! He is no brother to me! He's just my teacher. How could he be a brother when he doesn't try to understand me anymore than you and mom do?" She folded her arms and turned to face out the window.

"I want a brother who will encourage me and be there for me, but still give me enough space to grow and become my own person. A real brother would at least make an effort to understand his sibling. Just look at Kenji and Yugo. For a long time, all they had was each other and they never have this kind of problem with each other." Her tone was sad and low. Alice patted her back and stood from the bed.

"I'm sure they have their own set of problems Uriko." She giggled.

"Why do I even bother? You wouldn't understand. You're the older sibling so you didn't have someone bothering you all the time. Since I'm the youngest I have both you and mom babying me every chance you get. And then there's master Long." She laid back down and covered herself with a blanket

"Just go. I'll see you tomorrow." She said closing her eyes, still not facing her sister.

"What no cat powered escort from your room tonight?" Alice joked. She kissed her sister on the head and walked out of the room turning off the light when she left.


	3. Chapter 3

-Elsewhere in the city,

"So you're the pretty kitty who's been trying to fight her way into the pit huh?" A muscular man said with a sinister smile. A flickering light at the back alley entrance to an apartment complex flickered in the night. Its dinghy orange glow illuminated the man's orange hair and red racing jacket. Behind him over a dozen of rough looking guys standing in the alley, sitting on a dumpster and looking down from fire escapes. All of their eyes were focused on their leader and Shina, who had been corned in the alley after beating the leader's nephew. He had been fighting his way up to earning entry into the pit.

"Look here you little bitch! No one messes with my guys. Especially not my own nephew." He pulled out a switchblade and licked the blade. His goons laughed and shouted with anticipation in the background.

"We saw you. Those claws, that fur, your eyes…" His voice was sadistic, and his words made Shina's skin crawl.

'Impossible…' Shina thought to herself. 'I didn't even completely transform… And it was for a fraction of a second. There's no way he could have seen it, much less all of them.' She was thinking at a mile a minute and couldn't seem to grasp what he was saying. She had used the quick partial transformation to defeat countless powerful opponents and had never been seen. So what was different about this time?

"You can thank my boy Jack up there. That camera of his and his quick eye caught the whole thing. You really are Marvel and we're going to teach you a lesson. For one thing freaks like you should stick to wallowing in the gutter! More importantly though, a female has no place in the pit with real men; you wouldn't want to chip one of those fancy claws now would you?" He mocked.

Shina was enraged by his second comment. Part of what earned her the name Marvel was that she was among histories best mercenaries, second only to her father. She spent years being looked over because of her gender but proved to the hidden world that she was better than almost any man. She truly was a marvel to behold.

"I really can't stand that kinda' crap!" She shouted. She strained every muscle in her body and her eyes began to glow. Making the man and his gang back off a step fearing what would come next.

"You men think you're so strong. Pulling out knives and weapons to fight a woman who you already out number 20 to 1." She snarled. Her body was beginning to emit massive amounts of heat as her skin and hair began to turn spotted and her nails reformed to claws.

"Well then Mr. Man, come show me how strong you are!" He teeth were now sharpened fangs. She clenched her fists and held her arms up in front of her face as he muscle mass grew.

"You think you can beat me because I'm a woman? Well… then BRING IT ON!" She roared and in a flash of light, threw her arms out. The shier force of her transformation pushed the men closest to her into the crowd. She let out a savage roar that reverberated in every piece of metal in the alley. The men looked on in fear and amazement at what they were seeing. Some of the men in back ran out of the alley fearing for their lives. Jack ran higher on the fire escape and aimed his camera shakily trying not to miss another second of what was happening.

The boss snapped out of his shock remembering his knife. He stood and charged the leopard aiming to stab he in the side. But Shina quickly countered be grabbing his wrist and pulling him into a punishing elbow strike that broke his cheekbone and eye socket on impact. He was out like a light and his men began running for their lives, crawling over one another almost stomping their own comrades to death. The cowards ran shouting back "Monster," "FREAK," "DEMON!" All of which Shina had heard before.

A few of the strongest fighters stayed behind for a chance to fight her, but were quickly dealt with. Using her Fang-drop-hammer combination, she knocked out four of the six men. The last two had been keeping back until they could have a clean shot at the leopard. They had not gone unnoticed by the mercenary. After the weaklings were dealt with, she crouched into a fighting stance and prepared for what they may have coming.

"Pretty impressive, huh Xie?" The larger of the two said in a deep and hungry tone.

"Yes Hung, Quite." The smaller man answered flatly. His facial expression hadn't changed in the slightest way since Shina first spotted him.

She took a moment to size the men up, it was clear these were no ordinary fighters. As soon as they spoke, she immediately recognized their accents as Cantonese. The one called Hung was a large burly man with a large head and belly. Despite his round shape his arm, leg and shoulder muscle were as solid as boulders. His hands were very large, even for a man of his size, and covered with calluses and scars. He had to be about 6'5" as he towered over both Shina and his companion.

Xie was only slightly shorter than Shina. His feet were small and his legs were thin and lean. His midsection was firm and solid. His upper body however was massive. His chest, arms, shoulders and even his hands were visibly strong and well defined. It was as if he spent his life walking on his hands.

Shina searched her mind for potentially helpful clues about the two. They were obviously well trained and they were Chinese. Hung and Xie, something was significant about those names.

"I'm getting tired of this." Hung growled. "Lets get this show on the road. If we take her out we can find out where this pit is and show this city what real fighters are capable of." He cracked his knuckles and glared at the crouched cat in front of him. A deep growl escaped her snarling jaws and she flexed her fingers exposing her claws.

"Fine." The smaller man said calmly. He moved over to the dumpster and prepared to watch the fight. When he moved his steps were short and quick. Though his over all speed wasn't any faster than an average walk, his natural footwork caught Shina's keen eye.

'He moves like some kind of bug' she thought to her self and immediately made the connection. Scorpion! Xie was the Cantonese word for scorpion. That would explain his peculiar build and his footwork.

Then another realization crossed her mind. Hung was also a Cantonese word. It meant bear. Just as she had processed that thought, a large palm came across her face. The hit was so heavy that it nearly knocked her to the ground.

She growled at the large man and was prepared for a battle. He may be well trained and incredibly strong, but bear style relied completely on raw power and lacked speed and maneuverability. However, if he was a master, those hands could be a real problem. All the same, he was still a human. Or was he?

As Hung swung his massive arms and clumsily stomped around the alley, Shina took note of his scent. It was strong and gamey; she also noticed that he was not sweating despite his heavy breathing.

'Heavy breathing… No, he's panting!' she thought. 'These two are zoanthropes!' she came to the realization and immediately went on high allert. If their names came from more than just their fighting styles she would have to be careful.

She dodged another one of his swipes and punched him in the jaw and kneed him in the nose.

"AHHHH! YOU DAMN CAT! NOW I'M MAD, SO SEE HOW WELL YOU STAND UP TO THIS!" He planted his feet and dropped into a low horse stance. He lifted his hands above his head before slamming his palms into the ground. In a flash of light, the large man was now covered in thick black fur. His face and chest were a light tan color. His hands were tipped with talon like claws, and he knew all too well how to use them. He was now massive, appearing to be nothing more than a large bear with pants and fingers. He let out a feral roar that shook the city.

'This isn't good…' she thought to herself while ducking and dodging his attacks. 'He's a bear and he's angry. That means any rational he may have had in that simple mind of his is now gone. He's just an animal at this point.' She analyzed her situation and concluded that it would be best to take him out as quickly as possible. His body was too thick for her punches and kicks to be very effective on their own.

'That's it!' After quickly avoiding another of Hung's swipes, she dug her claws into his arm and pulled herself toward his up his body. A well-aimed knee to the face threw him off balance. Without missing a beat she leapt into the air from his shoulders and came down landing a punishing axe kick to the crown of Hung's head knocking him out cold.

Shina was exhausted but knew it was too soon to drop her guard. Xie had been watching the entire fight from his spot at the dumpster and had barely blinked the entire time.

When Hung had fallen he stood from his spot and prepared to fight. Shina raised her arms in a fighting stance and prepared herself for the worst, but her fatigue had made her reflexes slow. Before she knew it Xie was quickly advancing on her. Instinctively she caught his first jab and attempted to counter with a punch of her own. But to her shock it was stopped by a firm grip on her wrist. She snarled at him and attempted to claw at his face, but was stopped by a flash of light. When her vision cleared, she saw that she was holding and being held by a large set of black pincers. She looked to his face to see four gem shaped red eyes glaring back at her. She tried to force her arm forward but his claw clamped down on her wrist with crushing force. In tern she adjusted her grip on his claw and worked her claws into the joint of his hard exoskeleton.

Her attention was averted to a large tail rising from behind him. Its sharp tip dripped venom and she realized that she could not avoid the deadly strike. She braced herself for impact when suddenly Xie was ripped away from her causing her to stumble to the ground next to Hung. She rubbed her sore wrist and looked up to see Xie being flown high above the alley by the tail in the claws of a large bat.

'Jenny!' she growled to herself. 'What the hell is she doing here?' Shina's blood began to boil but her thoughts were interrupted by Xie dropping back into the alley landing in the dumpster, landing with a disterbing crunch.

Shina looked up to see Jenny circling above the alley, and she noticed that Jack was still on the fire escape with the camera rolling. She let out a low growl before snatching up his boss's knife and sending it deep into the core of Jacks camera with the accuracy of a Russian circus performer. The blade went straight into the lens of the camera and the tip poked out of its rear nicking the man's chin. Jack passed out in shock, and a bead of blood dripped down his jaw. Shina used her powerful legs to scale the walls of the alley and get to the roof of the building where she changed back to her human form.

"What the hell are you doing here bat?" She shouted into the sky signaling Jenny to land. With grace and fluidity, the older woman swooped down and transformed only a few feet away from Shina.

"Calm your self tabby, I was just enjoying the night air when some interesting sounds caught my ear. You know bats have VERY sensitive hearing darling." She said with a smirk while touching her ear.

"Do NOT toy with me woman! There are zoanthropes all over the city a roar in the night is nothing special." Her cat eyes pierced through the calm night air directly at Jenny.

"Fine…" She sighed throwing her hands up in defeat. "You're no fun at all, you know that? If you must know it was daddy dearest who asked me to find out why you were coming home beaten and bruised, even having to be carried in by that blue boyfriend of yours on occasion."

Shina stepped back in shock. 'Dammit! The whole reason I moved out was so he wouldn't worry about me fighting and I could finally step out of his shadow. But I see that those old cat eyes of his still didn't miss a thing. Then she her mind snapped to something else Jenny said.

"SHENLONG IS **NOT** MY BOYFRIEND!" She roared. Jenny could hear the uncertainty in her voice and decided to test her luck.

"Oh right, I'm sorry. I forgot that Long is the one you're involved with." She smiled and waved her hand whimsically.

"NO!" She shouted defensively. "I'm not with either of them!"

"Aww, but why not? Both of them seem like excellent suitors for a lady like yourself." She mocked. She touched a finger to her chin and looked off into the distance. "Although personally I think Shenlong's wild and dangerous nature seems much more fun than the quiet Master Long"

Shina's blood began to boil but paused at those last words.

"What do you mean "Master Long"? He refused to train others because he said it would only bring about more violence. At least that's what he told me…" She sighed out loud wondering if she had been replaced.

"Didn't you know?" She said coyly. "Well sounds like you and your man have a few things to talk about." She teased "Anyway why is someone of your talents resorting to street fighting? You're not trying to get into the pit are you?"

Shina's eyes bulged, was she really so easy to read, or had Jenny been following her on multiple occasions? One thing was for sure, she had to throw her off the trail, or she would surly inform Gado; and she did not need him ruining her fight in the pit tomorrow night.

"Please! As if I would stoop to such a low level. Do I look like some kind of barbarian to you?" She took a moment to examine herself. "Don't answer that."

She had been convincing so far but now she needed to drive it home and get her interrogator to leave. Plus she had to find out how much her father already knew.

"So now you tell me bat woman. What are we going to do with the Chinese trash down there? I'm pretty sure you cracked the scorpions shell with that little stunt of yours." They both looked down into the alley but to there surprise, both of the men were gone.

"Well that solves that problem tabby." She teased. Shina was officially tired of being referred to as "Tabby."

"Call me Tabby one more time you flying rat! One more fucking time and I swear I will clip both of your scrawny wings!" She growled with a ferocity that let Jenny know immediately her playtime was over for the night.

"Well you wont have to worry about that for a while darling. Papa was invited to a show tomorrow night and I think I will tag along." She said with a wink before transforming and taking flight.

Once she was out of sight, Shina jumped down onto the fire escape and retrieved Jack's camera. Something she learned from her father was that a good mercenary left no evidence behind. That included a totaled camera. From there it was clear what her next move needed to be.

"Now its time for me to pay dad a visit." She said quietly to herself before leaping down from the escape to the street below and walked off into the night.

The following day started almost like any other day. Alice woke her little sister by scaring her out of her skin, followed by her zoanthrope-powered ejection from the room.

Long had been up since daybreak doing his morning tai chi.

Shina who spent the night at her father condo would had come up with a story to explain her bruises that she would share over breakfast. Luckily for her the tears in her close and the bruise on her wrist would actualy serve as evidence to back up her story. She would blame all of her past confrontations on the bear and scorpion. As long as Jenny hadn't been watching her in other fights, there would be nothing to prove she was lying.

Shenlong was meeting with a realtor about moving into a pent house somewhere in the city. With all his money safely in a well-managed account he could buy any place he wanted outright. After choosing to skip breakfast, he decided to head over to the park to relax before his meeting.

Kenji came to the surprise Uriko this morning, by rescuing the madness that was her morning breakfast and walked her to school without Alice or his brother. When he knocked on the door however his plans unexpectedly changed.

"Oh good morning Kenji!" Mitsuko answered the door loudly. "I think it's sweet that you walk Uriko to her school in the mornings." She beamed. "But you're pretty early this morning, why don't you join us for breakfast." Before he could object or Uriko could intervene, Mitsuko was dragging him over to the table full of pancakes, fruit and scrambled eggs.

"Gotta make sure my baby girl has a well balanced breakfast for her big test today." She said cheerfully. A bead of sweat dropped from Kenji's head as Uriko almost choked on her food. She honestly thought she was going to die from embarrassment if she did not get out of there and fast.

"Oh would you look at the time. We really should get going Kenji if we are going to stop by the library on the way there so you can help me with some last minute prep work for my test. Love you mom, love you Alice, bye!" She spewed her words out in a single breath before grabbing her boyfriend and sprinting out of the door with him in tow. But only a few feet away from her front steps she ran into something solid.

"Ow! Who the heck left something in the middle of the sidewa…." She cut her words when she looked up to see what exactly she had run into. It wasn't a thing however; it was a person and one she recognized. She looked up to his face for confirmation but the sun was almost directly behind his head and the glare blocked her vision.

"Master, what are you doing here?" She questioned squinting from the bright light.

"Rin… Rinrei?" the man said shakily.

"Um Uriko… that's not your teacher." Kenji said tapping her shoulder. She held a palm up to block the sun and to clear her vision.

"You're not Master Long!" She said in shock. Her eyes went wide when she saw that this man's face was exactly like her teaches. The only difference was that man had short hair and red eyes. Another notable difference was that her master seldom ever showed emotion on his face, but this man looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"Shenlong what are you doing here?" Kenji asked tensely. Though Shenlong was on good terms with Yugo, his sudden appearance put Kenji on edge. What made things worst was that he was staring directly at Uriko still with a shocked expression on his face.

"Wait, you're Shenlong?" She asked nervously. Having only seen him in his beast form and from behind, Uriko had no idea what Shenlongs face looked like. She never imagined that he would look so much like her teacher.

"You look just like him though." She reached out curiously to touch his face, but the moment her hand made contact he snapped awake from his shock and took off, almost as if he could teleport like Kenji.

Uriko was dazed by what just happened.

"URIKO SWEETY IS EVERYTHING OK?" Mitsuko shouted from the window, snapping her daughter back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, YES MOM, I'M FINE!" she shouted sarcastically.

"I'm right in front of the house. Don't you at least think I can move this far on my own?" She mumbled under her breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Her mom asked cheerfully.

"NOTHING MOM! I'M GUNNA GET GOING NOW, SO SEE YA LATER!" She said while stomping off. Kenji himself was a little dumbfounded by what just happened. He only ever saw Shenlong at the gym or with his brother. Granted Kenji didn't go out much, Shenlong was still someone that many of the other zoanthropes didn't trust.

After a few blocks of walking in silence, Uriko looked up at Kenji's toubled face.

"Hey Kenji." She started in a concerned tone. "Is everything alright?"

"Yea I guess. That was just really weird is all." He said trying to relax his own mind as well as hers.

"You can say that again. I honestly thought that was Master Long before you said something. I wonder if they are closely related, or something to each other." She pondered while staring blankly into space.

"Well, at least nothing else happened. If my mom had looked out the window a little bit earlier I'm pretty sure hell would have broken loose." She said with a nervous laugh.

"What do you mean? Does your mom have something against him too?" Kenji asked raising an eyebrow.

"Actually I doubt she even knows who he is." She giggled. "But the fact that I was outside with a strange man is more than enough to send her into a panic. Even though you were there to protect me, she still might have lost it."

Kenji couldn't help but laugh at the truth behind her statement. It was very true that Mitsuko would literally take on hell itself to protect her children. Even Alice who was already grown was still under the boar's protection.

"Kenji… who's Rinrei?" she asked shyly.

"Huh?" Was the only response he could formulate at the moment.

"That's what he called me, and well you seemed to know him, so I thought you might know who he was talking about." Now her mind was racing, and the school was coming into view.

"We can worry about all of that later. For now you just gotta focus on today's exam." He said placing a hand on her shoulder and looking up the steps to her school.

"Heh, your'e right." Kenji knew just how to get her back on track. "I'm ready!" She said full of determination. She ran up the steps to her school and blew a kiss before bounding into the school.

While Uriko had her schoolwork to worry about, Kenji racked his own brain trying to make sense out of everything. Needless to say, his day in school was far from productive.

While the young people were in school a very unpleasant reunion was about to take place at the library.

"So you have been tracking these two men for weeks, and last night they ambushed you?" Gado said full of uncertainty.

"That's the pretty much it, yea." She calmly, confident that her alibi was solid.

"So what was their objective?" he asked in an authoritarian tone.

"The bear said they were here to take over the cities underground fighting ring. They were trying to find a place known as the pit, but I have not been able to locate it either." She answered as if she were back in the army. Gado knew a plenty of information about the pit and its operations. What he needed to do now was assess how much she knew about it.

"What information have you been able to gather about it so far?" He could not let her know he was suspicious of her.

"They are the most powerful underground power in the city. More money is tied to them than in drugs, prostitution and weapons trafficking combined. Their most powerful fighters are zoanthropes, but I do not know who they may be. They currently meet every night at in secret, however I do not know if it is in the same location or in multiple locations around the city. In order to get into the these fights, someone has to either find it and buy their way in or prove themselves in the streets and get brought in by an existing high ranking pit fighter. It's safe to assume that the two I defeated last night were close to getting into tonight's pit." Her report was full and concise.

"I see." He paused to consider everything. Her story was adding up, perhaps too well. "Well done Shina. You really are a great mercenary." He said proudly. Shina lightly blushed at her fathers praise. But then dropped her head as her mind processed how she was going to talk to Long about his student. More importantly why it even bothered her.

"What's wrong?" Gado noticed his daughter's internal turmoil. "Something is troubling you."

"Dad… did you know that Long had a student?" she asked shakily.

"Yes, he speaks quite fondly of her. Why?" He could not tell where she was going with this.

"He does? I see… He refused to train me, not wanting to encourage more violence in my life." Her voice was full of bertayal and pain. "I wonder what else he hasn't told me." She stood and started toward the door.

"Shina I'm sure it's not what you think…" He was cut off by her voice.

"Sorry dad gotta run. I have two classes to teach today. I'll just talk to him myself later. Later pop." She said quickly before slamming the door behind her. Gado sighed to himself and walked out to his balcony looking out into the city.

Elsewhere, Shenlong was still shaken up from the morning events. He decided to kill some timeand calm his nerves in a coffee shop until he heard from his agent.

"There's no way that could have been her." He said quietly to himself before taking a drink of his coffee and looking out onto the street.

'Those eyes… those were Rinrei's eyes.' He thought to himself.

"She died years ago…"

'She knew me.'

"No, she thought she knew me."

'She knows him.'

"Long!" he growled to himself before standing up from his table.

"He's got some serious explaining to do." He scoffed. He left his drink on the table and began to storm off when his concentration was broken.

**I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all!** His cell phone blared into the city air.

"What is it?"

"**Mr. Shenlong I found the perfect property for you, but we have to act quickly. There is some gentleman coming in a few hours to look at the place and this property has one of the best views in the entire city. It's the same style as on a pent house directly across the street."**

"Fine where is it?"

"**125****th**** west and Washington Boulevard, block from the Washington subway stop. Do you know where that is?"**

"Yea I know the way. I'm close, should be there in 15 minutes." **Beep**.


	4. Chapter 4

Something about the location sounded familiar to him, but there was too much on his mind for that to bother him right now. He walked down nearby subway stairs just as the train pulled into the station and faster than expected, he was back on the surface looking down the street. On one side he saw his agent. But on the other was Gado's building, the same one he carried Shina to not so long ago.

"Oh, this is just perfect." He said with a devilish grin. He walked up to his waiting agent. "Glad you could make it on such short notice Mr. Shen…"

"I'll take it!" he said joyfully.

"But sir… you haven't even seen the property yet…" she said nervously.

"You said it's the same style as the one in this building right?" he pointed directly across the street.

"Well yes, but what..." she didn't even get to finish her statement.

"If that's the case, then I have seen everything I need to see." He chuckled.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm gunna go check out the view, and say hi to the neighbors." He had a whimsical look in his eye that bordered on madness. Beads of sweat began to rain from the woman's face.

"Well if you're so sure I will have the papers here this afternoon." She waved nervously but when she opened her eyes the elevator had closed and she was alone.

"He is by far the strangest client I have ever had." She sighed to herself before walking back outside.

Shenlong arrived at his new home and it was perfect. He knew where the appliances were and just which way to go for a view of the city. He threw open the door and walked out to his balcony and looked across the way. Just as he expected Gado was there, reading the day's paper and enjoying a quiet lunch.

'So predictable.' The tiger grinned to himself

"HEY NEIGHBOR!" He roared, causing Gado to fall from his chair.

"What the hell." He griped pulling himself up from the ground. He looked up to see the source of the outburst was now rolling in laughter. The sight made his face drop, dreading what this could be.

"DAMMIT STRIPES! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" He roared back. At this point onlookers from the street below were amazed at the strength of the two men's lungs.

"I'M JUST TRYING TO BE NEIGHBORLY!" He said between laughs. "WHY DON'T YOU BE A PALL AND HELP ME MOVE SOME THINGS UP HERE TOMORROW?"

"NOT ON YOUR LIFE! WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO MOVE IN RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET?" He roared.

"CUS IT'S GOT THE BEST VIEW IN THE CITY! YOU SHOULD KNOW, IT'S THE SAME STYLE AS YOURS!" His voice boomed in response. The older man could only palm his forehead. This was not going to go well. The next few days are going to be hell and Gado could feel it.

"I HAVE TO PAY SOMEONE A VISIT BEFORE TONIGHT! SEE YA THERE OLD TIMER!" Shenlong shouted and left the balcony. His tone had taken a drastic turn and sounded more foreboding than earlier. It was then that Gado went inside and listened to the message again. Pieces of this puzzle were falling into place, and he didn't like the picture they were making.

Two fuses had been lit on opposite sides of the city, and they both lead to the same bomb at the city library. Despite the time that had passed, Shina and Shenlongs anger had not subsided, and was building to a full on rage with every step they took. They were now marching toward the same spot, from opposite sides of the city. A furious energy seemed to emit from both of them, one yellow the other blue, and Long could feel them both from the center of the library.

Both of their minds were racing at this point.

'Who is she?'

'What is her connection to him?'

'What makes her so special'

'WHY DOES SHE CALL HIM MASTER?' Their minds were in perfect sink, and the closer they got, the faster they moved. Both were had broken into a full sprint at this point, racing toward entry steps on opposite sides of the library. They practically kicked in the heavy doors and shook the building with their steps. It felt as if two stampedes were about to collide.

Shina was the first to arrive. But Shenlong was not far behind.

"WHO THE HELL IS SHE?" The woman roared, causing everyone in the room to hide or evacuate.

"Who is she and why does she call you Master?" She demanded.

"That's EXACTLY what I want to know! WHO THE HELL IS SHE?" His roar easily twice as powerful as Shina's and it shook the very foundation of the building. Shina and Long were astounded at the ferocity that came from him, but she quickly regained her focus.

"What was all that crap about your training only spreading violence?" she snarled.

"You are going to tell me RIGHT NOW why that girl looks so much like her when we both know she died years ago!" Shenlong ordered

Their rage was flaring and causing their transformations to start.

"Is she the new woman in your life now?' Shina shrieked.

"Those eyes! WHY DOES SHE HAVE THOSE EYES?" he thundered.

The one thing they both wanted to know.

"WHY IS SHE CALLING YOU MASTER?" They roared in unison.

Long was caught completely off guard and had no chance of clarifying for either of the enraged zoanthropes. One thing was for sure was that all of this ruckus was causing a panic. He had to get them away from the humans. So he turned and headed for the roof as fast as he could, all while being chased viciously. He arrived on the roof winded, but had no time to rest, as his pursuers were right behind him.

"Enough of this!" Long demanded as the other two were closing in on him. Shina began to stand down, but Shenlong ready to snap.

"Fine!" She snapped. "We'll hear what you have to say but you better have a damn good explanation for this!" She pointed a threatening finger at him.

"What reason could he have?" Shenlong said with a growl. "That girl died years ago. That's one memory I know wasn't fake!"

"What the hell is he talking about?" She demanded.

"Please allow me to explain. You both are referring to the same young lady. I…" He was cut off but Shina's fury.

"So it IS another woman! What, am I too old for you to train or is she just some young piece of ass for you?" She wasn't making any sense, but in her mind it didn't matter. She had been passed over for a younger woman.

"Shina what are you talking about? SHE"S JUST A CHILD!" Long roared at her accusation. She immediately bit her tongue in shock at how mistaken she was.

"She's a 15 year old girl and I'm training her in kendo so she can defend herself! You know first hand how dangerous the city can be for a young girl even more for a young zoanthrope girl!" Shina's rage had turned into humiliation. Had she really gotten this upset over a school child trying to protect herself?

"Well that explains one thing." Shenlong's voice rumbled at his double. "But Rinrei died years ago you saw it yourself and even though the memories were implanted in my head, I saw it too!" He could not wrap his mind around this entire situation. It seemed too unreal.

"You're right." He said mournfully. "My sister really did die all that time ago. Her body was destroyed by the XGC mark that appeared on her heart. There was no chance for her to survive, even if the cure had been created in time. She was too young to survive the treatment." He said silently sobbing inside himself. Shina could only stare at him in disbelief.

'Did he say sister?' She thought to her self, but was interrupted by an agonizing cry from Shenlong. He had dropped to his knees and grabbed his head in pain.

"This is impossible! Those eyes! Those were HER eyes." He roared in agony before passing out from the mental strain. Shina stared in amazement at what just happened. She was afraid to even touch him, uncertain of what would happen next.

"He's gone into shock." Long said calmly, while walking over to his fallen clone. "He will be fine but we have to move him out of the sun or he will dehydrate." Shina nodded in response and helped long carry his limp body.

People in the library stared in horror and anticipation at the trio as they left the library. The head librarian hurried over to them before they got out the front door.

"Long! What is the meaning of this?" She demanded before she saw the pained expression on Shenlongs face. Before he could answer he heard a familiar young voice.

"Master Long, is everything alright? I heard all the noise and came as soon as I could but…" She gasped when she saw whom he was carrying.

"My brother has had a panic attack and gone into shock." Shina and Uriko looked at him with questioning eyes. "I will need some time off to tend to him." He said calmly.

"Oh, …yes of course. Take as much time as you need. I hope he will be alright." She said passively before walking back into the library.

"Master Long, What is going on?" The young girl asked desperately. Shina looked at her curiously then back at Long.

"Shina." He started with a smile. "This is my pupil. Uriko." He introduced the two. Shina blinked rapidly and looked down at the girl. She would have smacked her forehead if her hands hadn't been full with Shenlong.

"Uriko this is Shina Gado, Mr. Gado's daughter and a very dear friend of mine." He said with a smile. Uriko examined the older woman. She was very impressed with her beauty and how strong she looked.

"Nice to finaly meet you." The young girl bowed respectfully with a light smile, but her focus quickly returned Shenlong's limp body.

"Umm…Like wise." Shina responded with a nod.

"Uriko since you're finished with school for the day could you call your sister and have her meet us at my apartment to check on him? " He requested calmly and began to walk with Shina and Shenlong toward his apartment.

"Hold on." Shina stopped them at the bottom of the steps. "Let me get us a ride so we don't draw too much attention. She flipped open her cell phone and pushed a button. After a few seconds someone answered her call.

"Hey dad, I need a pick up. Can you bring the truck over to the library? ... You have the red one right? Good it should have enough room." after a few nods and "uh huh"s she closed the phone.

"We're in luck." She said with a smile. "My fathers only a few blocks away he will be here any minute."

"That's good" Long said with a sigh of relief. "Let's wait here on the steps so we don't block the sidewalk." They sat down at the bottom corner of the steps and Uriko finally got through to her sisters cell phone.

"Alice I need your help I…." Uriko had to rip the phone away from her ear as her sister began to panic and shout on the other end of the line.

"No I'm not hurt, I… No it's nothing like that, I…, ALICE I DO NOT NEED A CUP OF ICE CREAM! WILL YOU JUST LISTEN!" She yelled into the phone.

"Just meet us at Master Long's house and bring some medical supplies!" CLACK she slammed her phone shut and shoved it in her pocket.

"I think she got the message." The young girl said as a large burgundy Suburban pulled up to the curb behind her. She was so busy looking at Shenlong she didn't notice it was there, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when Gado shut the door.

"What happened?" He asked walking up to the group. When he saw Shenlong passed out he simply shook his head.

"Oh Stripes." He sighed heavily before looking at the other three. "Alright everyone in the truck. He said lifting Shenlong onto his shoulders.

Shina colapsed the back row of seats so her father could lay the unconscious man down without contorting him in a way that could cause any damage. Shina rode shotgun, while Long and Uriko sat behind them. Everyone sat quietly and simply looked out onto the road toward Long's apartment, but the man who lay behind her fascinated Uriko. Constantly looking back at him and wondering what he was like and how he ended up like this.

Uriko wasn't the only one intrigued by who was sitting behind her. Shina frequently stole glances at the young girl from the corners of her eyes. What was it about her that made Shenlong snap, and what has her connection to this sister of theirs?

"Shina. You alright?" Gado asked in a comforting tone seeing his daughter once again lost in her thoughts.

"Yea pop, I'll be fine. Just a lot on my mind ya know." She unbuckled her seat belt as they pulled up to Long's building. He Parked the large vehicle as close to the door as he could, and then went to the back to help his daughter move Shenlong. Long opened the doors to the building and lead the way to his apartment. Uriko tried to make herself useful by holding the doors open as the Gado pair went by.

Finally reaching the apartment Gado set the younger man down on a couch in the hallway next to Long's living room. Uriko had learned a thing or two from being the victum of her sisters over reactive nature. She put a pillow under Shenlongs neck to prop his head up and keep his air way open, and used wet dishrags to keep him cool. Other than some grunting and occasional twitch he had not moved. The adults sat in an adjacent room bringing Gado up to speed on what happened.

"So what happened to make him collapse like that?" Gado questioned. After hearing how Shenlong and his daughter arrived at the library to question Long, he was slightly disappointed in her for jumping to conclusions. But at this point, Shenlong's condition was more important.

"I'm not exactly sure." Long started. "It's safe to assume that he made contact with Uriko sometime this morning…" Hearing her name, Uriko decided to help fill in the blanks.


	5. Chapter 5

"It was this morning on my way to school." She said while patting his forehead with a rag. "Kenji came over to walk me to school and when we got outside, I kind of ran into him." She said with a guilty smile. "He said something about my eyes and called me Rinrei… Who is that?" she questioned looking at her kenpo master for an answer.

Long let out a heavy sigh. "Rinrei was the name of my baby sister. She died about 10 years ago. Uriko and Shina's eyes went wide at his statement, then they both dropped their heads. Shina felt bad for being so hasty and Uriko for bringing it up.

"But what does Uriko have to do with your sister?" Gado asked finally breaking the silence. Uriko's head popped back up wondering the same thing.

"Well for one thing my sister would be about Uriko's age had she still been alive. For another Rinrei's eyes were the same shape and shades of brown as Uriko's. In fact, if Rinrei were here today, the two likely could have easily passed as siblings." He looked over to Uriko who was now looking sympathetically at Shenlong.

"Oh Shenlong, I'm so sorry." She said softly while brushing some hairs from his face.

"R-rinrei…" Shenlong managed to force from his lungs. His eyes were cracked open, but just barely. He was hallucinating, caught between a dream and reality. When Uriko spoke to him, his mind saw her as Long's little sister, who he also saw as his own.

"Rinrei, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you." He stuttered out and tears trickled from his eyes. Uriko continued to rub his head to comfort him and keep him calm.

"It's ok Shenlong… I know you did everything you could. Now its my turn to help you." She said softly with a smile. In his mind's eye she was the little girl from his memory, then was suddenly a teenage version of herself. He reached a hand up to pat her head and rubs the side of her face.

"You've grown I see." His eyes darted around in his head and his tears stopped, a smile formed on his face that let her know he was still all right. Long had come over to keep an eye on him incase his mental state should turn for the worst.

"Yea, I'm strong now so you don't have to worry anymore." She rubbed his arm and sat close to him.

"Long has been teaching me to fight, so now I'm strong like you two." She looked at him and smile. But her smile dropped when she saw a depressed expression on Shenlong's face.

"Long… he's your real brother. I'm just a clone." He muttered and turned away from her. Uriko put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at her teacher for answers.

"Shenlong was created from my DNA by Busuzima." He informed her. She thought for a moment and came to a shaky thought.

"If he was created from your DNA that means he's just as connected to your sister as you are right? I mean her DNA is just as similar to his as it is to yours, isn't it?" She proposed. Long pondered the thought for a moment then nodded in agreement.

"I suppose you're right Uriko. Even if she did not get to spend time with him like she did with me, he has some of my memories. So in his reality, she was very much his little sister, and they shared many joyful days together." Uriko's eyes lit up at his response.

"You hear that Shenlong? You're just as much her brother as Long was." She said in a soft yet cheerful tone.

"But I wasn't really there for you." He looked back at her through his shaky lids.

"That doesn't matter now. What matters is that you're here now." She said with her eyes beginning to well. She felt so sorry Shenlong's suffering and wanted to help him. Perhaps they could help each other. She always wanted a brother and he desperately wanted to be there for his sister.

"Maybe you can be my brother… I mean if you want. My name is Uriko now and even though I wasn't there for you either… well, I would like to be." She said softly. She looked to him for an answer, forgetting that he was less than half conscious; she was full of anticipation. But when he didn't move, she took her hand from his shoulder and turned away. She started to get up to retrieve more cool water, but before she made a move, a large palm found its way to the top of her head. She turned to se him facing her with closed eyes and a big smile.

"You know what kiddo…" He rubbed her head, then moved his hand to lightly brush her chin with his knuckle. "That sounds like a pretty good idea." Uriko's entire world seemed to light up. Her eyes watered as she lunged in to hug him around his neck. A single tear fell down his cheek as he held her close and rubbed the top of her back.

"Thank you brother." She said as she pulled away from him and laid him back down on the pillow. She left to get more water and he drifted off to sleep. When she got back he was sound asleep. She smiled and sat on the floor and rested her head on his arm before drifting off to sleep as well. As Long walked back into the other room Shina gave him a puzzled look.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let them get so friendly? This is Shenlong after all. I've never known him to be very…. gentle. Know what I mean?" She said with concern. She started to go get the young girl to move her, but was stopped by her father.

"Let them be." He said lightly. "This may actually be good for both of them."

"Indeed. Shenlong has been tormented by the fact that his memories were fabricated and that he never had a real family. A little sister might be exactly what he needs." The older man agreed. Shina nodded and sat back down. As soon as she did the sound of squealing tires was heard out side. Gado looked out of the open window only to see a giant white rabbit, with what had to be the mother of all first aid kits, leaping up toward him. He ducked back just barely avoiding a collision with her. Alice entered the room and franticly looked around for her sister.

"WHERE'S URIKO? IS SHE HURT?" She said the moment she transformed back into her human form. Long motioned toward the hallway with his head and Alice quickly snapped her's around to see her sister sleeping against someone on a couch. When she stepped closer and realized exactly who that someone was, she almost transformed again.

"URIKO GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She shrieked snapping the teenager awake, and Shenlong back into half consciousness. In his dream, some unseen intruder had just interrupted his time with his sister.

"SHHHH!" Uriko hissed at her sister. "Alice calm down he's sleeping and I think he's going to be alright. He doesn't have a concussion and his fever has broke… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Alice had not listened to a single word the girl said. Her only concern was getting her sister away from this man.

"I said get away from him!" Alice demanded pulling on her sister's arm, but she refused to move.

"Stop it Alice! He's hurt and I'm helping him!" She glared at her sister. "If you don't want to help him fine I'll do it myself but I am not leaving!" Her voice was stern and final.

"You don't know him Uriko. He's a monster and you have no idea what he's capable of, now let's go!" The usually chipper Alice was dead serious for a change, but Uriko didn't care. He had done nothing wrong since she meet him and was not about to abandon him because Alice didn't like him.

"He's not a monster!" She shouted quietly trying not to raise her voice so close to the sleeping man's head. "He's lost and alone, but Maser Long and Mr. Gado agree that I may be able to help him. And maybe… he can even help me…" She snatched her arm away, and sat back down next to him and hugged onto one of his arms. Alice dropped her medical supplies and she stepped over to her defiant sister.

"You don't want his help! You wouldn't want to be anywhere near him if you knew what he was involved in!" She said getting closer and closer.

"It doesn't matter! Now back off!" Shenlong began to grit his teeth. Uriko noticed that his body was getting really warm. In his dream Alice was one of Tylon's lackeys trying to take his sister from him.

"No…. You can't take her... I will protect my little sister this time no matter what..." he was beginning to sweat and his muscles were tense.

"Just look at him Uriko! He's unstable he could go off at any minute and I don't want you near him when he does! Now come on!" She grabbed her sister's leg and started to pull as hard as she could.

"LET GO! YOU'RE UPSETTING HIM THAT'S WHY HIS FEVER'S BACK!" Uriko grabbed onto the couch itself not wanting to pull Shenlong from his spot. He began to struggle in his sleep, as he could feel her being pulled away from him.

"Stop…." He muttered

"Uriko get away from that guy!" Alice continued to pull harder and harder.

"NO ALICE! Why can't you understand that he needs me right now?" She fought back.

"You can't have her…" he gritted his teeth.

"He doesn't need you, Uriko for all you know he could rip your head off the moment he wakes up!" She partially transformed her leg muscles bulged as she struggled to keep a hold of her sister's leg.

"Yes he does! He needs his little sister!" She snarled

"You're NOT his sister you're MINE! He's just a monster!" She shrieked

"DON'T SAY THAT! HE CAN HEAR YOU!" She warned.

"I wont lose her again…." His body began to shake. He was reaching his hand out for her's.

"Alice, stop this! He's half conscious and thinks someone is taking his sister from him. I don't know what's going to happen if you don't stop right now!" Uriko was desperately trying to get her sister to stop, but to no avail. She grabbed Shenlong's hand and he seemed to calm down a little. But Alice was not about to let up even a little.

"I DON'T CARE!" She screeched finishing her transformation and yanking her sister's leg as hard as she could.

"ALICE STOP! YOU'RE MAKING THINGS WORST!" a low growl rolled out of Shenlong's throat as her hand started to slip from his. His teeth were sharpening and Stripes were appearing on his skin. Uriko realized what was about to happen and knew no matter what she could not let go of him!

"MASTER LONG! MR. GADO, PLEASE DO SOMETHING! IF I LET GO HE'S GOING TO TRANSFORM!" Everyone had been staying out of it because they didn't know what exactly to do. But now one thing was clear if Shenlong transformed in his current state he could very well kill someone.

"Gado we have to do something NOW!" Long said brashly.

"Right! SHINA LET'S MOVE!" The older man roared as all three of them transformed and went to pin down Alice.

Alice looked up to see a tiger and lion bearing down on her but used her powerful legs to launch Long across the room and land scissor kick on Gado's crown, knocking him into Long. Shina leapt over her father and aimed to kick Alice in the face but was meet with a windmill drop kick. Alice's twisting body wrenched Uriko's hand out of Shenlongs. A low roar escaped his mouth and his body was straining with his unconscious transformation. Uriko transformed her hands and used her claws to hold firmly to the couch and the floor so she could stay close to him and try to keep him calm.

"Shenlong. Brother. I'm still here don't worry I… AHH" She cried out a little as Alice was now furiously pulling at her extended leg. Uriko tried to claw her way back to Shenlong, but inch-by-inch Alice was pulling her away. Shenlong reached a clawed hand out to her; she grabbed his hand and held on tight.

"Rinrei… Uriko…" He growled in desperation.

"I'm still here, don't worry." Alice yanked again and her hand slipped from his a little more every time.

"Uriko I'll protect you… I swear it…" He growled

"I'm still here Shenlong. Umph. Shenlong!" She was desperate to keep contact with him. But Alice was doing everything in her power to break that contact.

"Uriko… no…" He called in desperation, as he could only feel her fingertips, and here her voice. Uriko was getting desperate at this point. She frantically kicked at her sister's hands and clawed at the floor with her free hand, but it was proving to be of no use. Alice grabbed her other leg and dropped into a low squat. She was tensing the muscles in her legs and making sure to keep a firm grip on her captive.

"ALICE, DON'T DO THIS! I'M BEGGING YOU, PLEASE STOP!" She cried out, but it was of no use. Alice was determined to do what she had to, to protect her sister from this monster. Shenlong let out a number of low growls as Uriko's fingers moved desperately to stay with his.

"Shenlong… Brother…. I need you to stay calm. Ok? I'm still here, Ok. Shenlong." She tried to calm him, but his transformation was still happening.

"Shenlong… Shenlong… SHENLONG!" 'No….' Alice pushed off the ground with all of her stored energy and tore Uriko from him. The few seconds they were in the air, felt like a silent eternity. The moment Uriko left the ground, her sister released her grip on her legs. Uriko felt like she was floating in slow motion. Able to see everything from Gado helping Shina on the other side of the room, to her sister somersaulting below her and standing ready to catch her only a few feet away. The one thing that she couldn't fallow was Shenlong; he moved like a blur. When she hit the ground, everything sped back up. Shenlong had transformed and leapt over her. Alice tried to jump over his charge but was too slow. He caught one of her feet in his jaws and threw her into a wall close to where Long was laying still dazed. The impact took the breath out of her. She collapsed on the floor unable to move or breath; she could only watch as Shenlong stalked over to her on all fours. His claws were fully extended and his fangs were tipped red with blood from her leg. Long looked at his clone hoping to redirect his gaze but noticed something that chilled his bones. Shenlongs eyes were not their usual red, in fact they had no color at all, only the whites of his eyes were visible as his pupils were rolled up into his head.

"He's still asleep!" Long shouted into the room. But by this point Shenlong was still too close for Gado to reach him in time, and though Shina was fast, she was still disoriented from Alice's kick. The white rabbit only looked in horror as he came closer and closer. Tears rolled from her eyes as she could feel the murderous intent pouring out of him.

Shenlong was right on top of her at this point and faced down at her bearging his fangs. He took a deep breath and let out a thundering roar that seemed to block all other sounds. Alice couldn't hear anything; not cars on the street, or people scrambling about the building, or even Long's attempts to call his double out of this nightmare. He raised a hand high above Alice. The shadow of his claw fell directly over her throat. Alice shut her eyes in preparation for what would surely be the last thing she would ever feel in this world. But when nothing happened she opened her eyes to see Uriko kneeling in front of her. She had one hand stopping Shenlongs arm from coming down on her sister's neck like a guillotine. Her face was buried in his chest and her other hand was on his shoulder.

"It's ok Shenlong. I'm still here." She struggled to keep her shaking voice as calm and soothing as possible. "I told you, didn't I? I'm strong now; you don't have to worry because I can protect both of us. So please brother calm down. I'm so tired."

Her words comforted him and he retracted his claws as far back as they would go. He sat back and dropped his arm around Uriko and held her as he remembered holding Rinrei so many years ago. After a few moments of quiet and everyone gathering themselves, Shenlong let go and continues walkin on all fours. Uriko climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck as he turned from his would be prey and walked back toward the couch. He slowly dropped to his stomach to the floor, and then laid his head on his arms. Uriko stayed with him rubbing his head until she felt his body relax. His nightmare was over and now he was simply sleeping. The Gado pair had managed to sit up, and were in awe at the strange sight, especially Shina. She had never seen this side of him before and was genuinely amazed by what she had just witnessed. Uriko stood and walked over toward her sister and Master to ensure they were all right. Long helped Alice to sit up straight so she would not lose feeling in her side. Shina decided to go check on the sleeping tiger and handed Uriko her sister's medical supplies as she passed. The young girl took them and examined the elder sister's wounds.

"It looks like only a couple bruised ribs and some small punctures on your calf." She said while pulling out a bottle of peroxide and some bandages.

"You won't need stitches, but you should probably keep this bandaged for a couple of days so it can heal properly and not get infected. Alice looked at her sister amazed

'When did she learn all of this?' She wondered as her little sister mended her leg like a professional. She looked down at her leg, then at her sister's legs and saw they were scratched and bruised.

'Did… did I do that to her?' She bit her lip and winced at the thought of harming her baby sister. 'That must have really hurt…. If that's the case, then does that mean…'

"He was protecting you… from me…" She said sorrowfully. Uriko looked up at her sisters tear streaked face. She grabbed her hands to comfort her and rubbed the back of her hand.

"It's ok now Alice. I know you were trying to do what you thought was best, but you need to trust me some time." She said softly. The elder sister could barely contain herself. If not for her aching ribs, she would have attacked her sister with one of her signature hugs. Urkio was mildly amused by the fact that for once she wouldn't have to fight her sister off of her.

"It's not you I don't trust, it's him." She said glaring Shenlong's direction.

"Well, I do trust him." She said kindly looking in the same direction as her sibling.

"Uriko you don't know how dangerous he is. He almost killed Tylon and Busuzima when everything was going on with the XCG marks appearing on the zoanthropes. Not to mention, I doubt anyone really knows anything about his past. God only knows what he could be involved in now." Alice said in an accusing tone. Uriko was visibly disgusted by what her sister was saying. Not because of what she says he's done, but because she was being so judgmental. She stood and turned toward Shenlong.

"Master Long do you have enough room for my sister to rest until she gets her strength back?" She asked with a blank expression. Alice went wide-eyed at the disregard for what she had just said.

"Uriko what are you going to…" She was cut of by a look of disappointment from her sibling. Alice had only ever seen that look on their mothers face when one of the daughters had messed up royally.

"Alice after you rest up a bit, I think its best you go home. I will call mom and let her know I will be there later. You clearly don't want to help Shenlong or even try to understand me, so it's best if you go home to recover since you're not as strong as the others." Her voice trembled a little as she was trying to keep from yelling at her sister. She looked back to her master who was already fully recovered from Alice's kick.

"I have a guest room you can use Alice and some ointments that should take care of the pain." He said calmly as he helped her to her feet.

Alice was at a loss for words. Could her baby sister really be in control of this entire situation? Impossible, there was no way she could comprehend the sins of the man she was so eager to defend. Unable to voice these thoughts she quietly watched her sister go sit on the couch next to Shina and her new brother.

"Shina…" Alice was hit by a sudden wave of pain from her side. She gritted her teeth as the leopard stood and moved toward her.

"Can you please talk some sense into her? Maybe she will listen to you." Her voice was strained from the pain. Long took her to the room where she could rest, while Shina returned to sit by Uriko. There was a silence between them for what felt like hours, until Shina finally couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer.

"How did you do that?" The older woman asked bluntly. Urkio flinched at the sudden interrogation.

"What… what do you mean?" She asked nervously, finally taking a moment to let the day's excitement sink in.

"I mean… Shenlong is one of the most powerful Zoanthropes in the world, and among the most dangerous." Urko sighed and rolled her eyes in anticipation of another lecture about how scary Shenlong was, but was surprised when it never came.

"How did you, a teenage girl manage to calm him down when he was going berserk like that?" She had to know what was it about this little girl that he cared for so much.

"I'm not really sure. This morning I ran into him, literally, and when I looked at his face… his eyes were so full of pain. I wanted to help him but I didn't know anything about him, not even who he was." She said while looking down at him. Shina was listening intently to the young girls tale. It all sounded like something out of some twisted story.

"Then I heard all the noise coming from the library and thought Master Long was in danger, but that wasn't the case. When I showed up, there he was again, still with that same pain written across his face, only much more excruciating. He couldn't even stand up, I was so scared for him." Her voice shuttered at the thought. A few things perplexed Shina. How could such brief encounters, one of which he wasn't even conscious for, cause such a strong connection?

"But you still don't really know anything about him, and you trust him?" She asked hesitantly.

"Well I can't really explain it, he said something about my eyes before he ran off." She said shaking her head. Now that she thought about it, it really didn't make much sense. Shina lay back against the wall and looked down to the sleeping man trying to put this puzzle together.

"Ms. Gado, do you trust him?" She asked trying not to sound too forward. This time Shina flinched, before looking back him.

"I guess I do, I mean he can be a real pain some times, and it's hard to be around him sometimes simply because he is so powerful. I push myself to measure up to him even though he never really tries to show the gap in our strength. I guess I just want to impress him." She was beginning to blush, knowing that the only reason she could even manage to say these things was because he was lying right in front of her but couldn't hear her. This was the closest she had ever come to telling him how she really felt. Uriko noticed a gleam in her eyes as she talked and wondered what her connection to him was.

"Despite all of his flaws, I know I'm safe when I'm around him. He can be a jerk, but in all the time I have known him, he has never judged me or put me down. He really understands me in ways I only ever thought my father would." Gado quickly looked up from across the room when Shina mentioned him, causing both of the girls to giggle at him.

"So yea, I guess do really trust him." She said with a smile.

"Well that's good enough for me too. Besides I could use someone like that in my life. At home it's just my mom, and me but Alice comes home so much she might as well still live there." Her head hung low at the thought of returning home.

"Don't get me wrong I love my mom and my sister more than anything, but they always treat me like a baby for some reason. Between mom's over protectiveness and Alice's… Alice-ness, I feel suffocated most of the time. Then theirs Master Long…" her voice trailed off. Shina thought training with him would help her deal with such an over bearing family.

"Is Long like a brother to you too?" She asked cheerfully, but was surprised when Uriko's face only turned sour.

"Not even close! Unless being like a brother means babying me the way mom and Alice do." She sighed heavily. At this point Shina was starting to feel bad for the girl.

"What do you mean? I have asked Long countless times to train me, but he always turns me down." This time it was Shina who turned her head in depression. Uriko was growing more and more perplexed. Which one of them did she have feelings for?

"I am honored to be taught by Master Long, but he refuses to continue advancing my training, even though I'm ready. He says it would only encourage violence and that I would end up fighting more. He doesn't think I'm responsible or mature enough to handle it, so he keeps me doing the basics every week." Both of them sighed in unison.

"He said the same thing to me." Shina said sorrowfully.

"The same thing?" Uriko raised an eyebrow looking at her elder.

"Yes, the EXACT same thing." She responded, and then they sighed again.

"So I guess he's never going to advance my training." She was genuinely depressed about her training at this point. All of her hope had just left the room. She then turned her thoughts back to Shenlong.

"Ms. Gado, why do others hate him so much? Even Kenji got nervous when we saw him this morning even though his brother Yugo trains with him at the gym." She asked with genuine curiosity in her eyes. Shina's demeanor changed to a more serious expression.

"Well you see, everything your sister said was true. Shenlong almost killed Tylon and the scientists that worked for him because of what they did to him. That, and he's involved in some pretty dangerous stuff here in the city." Uriko was in disbelief at what she was hearing. How could a man who cared so much about someone be capable of such things?

"I know it all sounds bad… ok, it is pretty bad. But he's still a good person. I honestly don't blame him for wanting to take out those monsters at Tylon's facility." She said through gritted teeth.

"They seriously messed with his mind, implanting and manipulating memories. They wanted him to suffer; they wanted to make him a weapon. No one deserves that. He may be a clone but he's still alive with a heart and a mind! He deserves to live his own life, and the people who did this to him should never be allowed to do it to anyone else!" Shina was trembling with anger at the thought of what he must have been through. The younger girl, found herself feeling even worst for Shenlong than she had before. True he was dangerous to those who have hurt him but what about those he cared for? She looked at Shina as her eyes started to water with sympathy for the blue tiger.

"Shina calm down. They're gone and he's safe now." Gado was now standing against the wall opposite of Shina.

"Young lady it is true that he may be troubled in many ways, but he is also fiercely loyal. Since everything that happened with Tylon he has made a real life for himself. Even though it may not be one that most people approve of its still his own life he's living and that's what is most important." He said proudly.

"Honestly, you couldn't have picked a better brother than this man. He may be rough around the edges but he will keep you safe, make you strong, and will never have to question his intentions." He said looking at both Uriko and his daughter.

Just that quickly, all of Uriko's doubts were gone. She smiled and bound out the room.

"I'm gunna go check on my sister. She's been back there for a while and its about to start getting dark." She said heading toward the guest room.

"Shina, why don't you go with her? I will keep an eye on him." Gado suggested to his daughter. She nodded and followed the young girl through the apartment. Gado stepped over his sleeping friend and sat on the couch, letting out a long sigh.

"You know Stripes you're a pretty luck guy." He said turning his head to face the window. "I just hope you know that."

Shenlong didn't move, but Gado knew he had actually been awake for the last few minutes. He stood up and smoothly changed to his human form and stayed looking out the window as well.

"This is gunna be a drag, isn't it…" he said simply.

"Not really. What are you gunna do about the kid? She respects you and looks at you like a brother now. If you don't treat this delicately you could do some real damage to that girl." Gado said in an informative tone.

"In my deam, I saw Rinrei again. Then she grew up and looked just like that girl. She told me her name was Uriko, right?" He looked at the older man through the corner of his eye.

"Yep. That's her name Stripes. Mitsuko's little girl I think." He said rubbing his chin.

"That boar from the north end docks?" He said in a disgusted tone. "Didn't she adopt Yugo's girl as a daughter too?" he asked staring back out the window with a turned down face.

"Right again." Gado chuckled. "And she's a real handful just like her momma. You might as well accept Uriko as a sister. If you don't Mitsuko is going to kill you for what all has happened today AND for letting down her youngest child."

"After that dream of mine theirs definitely no getting rid of her. That's for sure… Wait. What do you mean what happened today? The last thing I remember was going after Long on the roof, and then I was out and dreaming." He turned to face the man.

"Well for one thing, you were actually half conscious during that dream of yours. You were even talking to her. But things got serious when her sister showed up and saw her with you." His demeanor was deadly serious, and Shenlong was trying to remember what happened in his dream. He looked over at the claw marks in the floor and noticed the trace scent of blood in the air.

"Did I end up hurting Uriko?" He asked mournfully.

"Not exactly…" Gado's response made his head shoot up in both relief and confusion.

"Then what happened?" He asked impatiently. Gado sighed and folded his arms.

"You almost killed her sister." He said flatly. Shenlong searched his memory for when this could have happened.

"She tried to take Uriko from your side by force, and she resisted. The rest of us tried to stop her, but she was blinded by her need to get the girl away from you, and you protected her. Literally tooth and claw." His tone was like that of a doctor informing a patient they had cancer.

"I remember now. Rinrei had grown up into Uriko and we were happy, but then we were in one of Tylons labs and couldn't move. Someone was trying to tear her away from me. It was Busuzima, he was trying to drag her away and she was crying out to me. When she let go something got loose. A tiger jumped from my body, it was blue and had these red eyes. It threw that scaly bastard against a wall and was going to finish him off for good. But just before he could everything stopped. I could move. Uriko came over to me with the tiger by her side. That's when I became one with the tiger again. Busuzima was gone and so was the lab. It was only me and Uriko in a clearing by a stream. It was great." He said letting his head fall back and closing his eyes.

"Sorry to inform you Stripes, but that tiger, was you. And that lizard you were going to finish off was actually a big, fluffy, white, bunny. You were about to take her head off when Uriko stopped you. That must have been when everything became peaceful in your dream. She rode on your back over to the spot you were sleeping." He ended with a light laugh. Shenlong blinked rapidly at the last part of the statement.

"I definitely don't remember that!" He grumbled. Gado smirked in amusement at Shenlong's irritation.

While all of this was going on, Uriko and Shina were back in the room with Alice and Long. She had woken up and was talking with Long about how to deal with Uriko becoming more and more difficult to control.

"Long I don't understand what is going on with that girl." She said sadly with her hand on her cheek.

"She doesn't appreciate what me you and even our mom do for her. Then she goes and chooses a mad man as the one she wants to be her brother." She vented her frustrations to the Kempo master.

"Your sister is high strung to say the least, but it is that same stubbornness of hers that will insure she has a great future." He said trying to calm her down.

"Not if she keeps making these reckless decisions! Why couldn't she have picked you to be her brother? You're a good role model, and you two already train every weekend. But all she does is complain about how you won't teach her." She pouted and folded her arms.

"I suppose I could try to be more brotherly toward her. Perhaps sway her away from Shenlong." He suggested shakily. Alices face lit up at the idea.

"That would be perfect!" She beamed. Long smiled nervously before hearing a tap at the door.

"Alice, are you awake?" Uriko asked popping her head in from behind the door, with Shina right behind her.

"Yes Uriko, I'm up. I talked to mom and she wants me to bring you back home with me." She said sternly.

"Did you tell her I was here helping someone?" She asked accusingly.

"Yes, but when I told her it was Shenlong she became furious. If we're not home before too long who knows what she's going to do." She said getting up from the bedside.

"We need to go NOW!" She demanded. The sisters glared at one another, and Long decided to speak up.

"Uriko, I think it would be best if you went with your sister." He said calmly placing his hand on Alice's shoulder. Shina was visibaly bothered by such intimate contact between the two.

"I'm sorry Master Long but I will not go until Shenlong is back on his feet. Alice I will come straight home afterwards." She said before walking back down the hall. Alice sighed and ran out of the room after the younger girl. Long looked up to meet eyes with Shina, but she only glared at him before following the other females down the hall.

"You know I don't like to be mocked, Mufasa!" Shenlong spat before walking toward the front door.

"Calm down Stripes, sorry but that's what happened. That little girl was on your back like a horsey." Gado chuckled.

"Whatever old man, I'm out of here. You still comin tonight?" He asked looking back over his shoulder.

"Yea, I'll be there, but I hope your wrong about it being Shina." The older man said with a heavy tone.

"Yea, same here." Shenlong responded before grabbing the doorknob.

"You're up!" Uriko's voice called from the hallway. She ran over to Shenlong to examine him.

"Are you sure you should be moving around so soon?" She asked concerned trying to take a look at his head. Shenlong was taken back at first, but it wasn't the shock he felt before. This time, he felt much more relaxed. When Shina came into the room, everything seemed perfect.

"Yea Kitten, I'm good." He said setting a hand atop the young girls head. She giggled a little bit at being called Kitten.

"Are you gunna end up treating me like a baby too?" She asked sadly.

"No, I don't have the time or patients to deal with any babies." He said jokingly." You may be young, but you're definitely no baby, and that means I'm not gunna go easy on you. Got that?" He said with a smirk, and poking her on the forehead. The young girl grinned from ear-to-ear.

"Yes Sir!" She said doing a mock solute before rushing him with a hug. He looked down at her with a light smile, while petting the back of her head.

"Aww, how sweet." Shina said while trying to hold back a laugh behind her hand, standing at the end of the hallway. "You really are a big softy, huh Shen." He looked up to see Shina standing with a devilish smile on her face. Right behind her was Alice, with an enraged look on her expression on her face, trying to push her way past the stronger woman. When Shenlong and Uriko saw Alice both of their smiles dropped into sickened expressions.

"I think I'm gunna get out of here." Shenlong said flatly.

"Same here..." Uriko said in the same tone. "Mind if I hang out with you for a bit?" She asked light heartedly.

"HELL NO!" Alice screamed from the hall before starting a tirade behind Shina. Long was doing his best to calm her down before things got worst.

"Yea sure, I'm gunna grab a bite to eat before I have to go take care of a few things." He said turning back toward the door. Long came down the hall and was trying to calm Alice down again.

"Hey Gados, you two want in? My treat." He said gladly.

"Yea, I could go for a bite before my night gets going." Shina said wit a light smile.

"Not me Stripes. I'm gunna go ahead and arrange for a couple trucks to help move all of your crap tomorrow." He said walking toward the door. "But I can drop you all off on the way back across town."

"Thanks for that old timer." Shenlong joked.

"Thanks dad." Shina added trying not to laugh at the "old timer" comment.

"Yea, yea, don't forget who's the one with the car Stripes." He said pointing back to himself with his thumb.


	6. Chapter 6

"Girls I'm counting on you two to keep this bone head under control." He motioned toward Shina and Uriko.

"Don't worry Mr. Gado, I'll keep him out of trouble." The youngest girl said after jumping on his back and wrapping her arms around his neck. The four of them shared a laugh before walking out the door.

"Bye Master Long. See you this weekend" She called before closing the door behind the group. Long and Alice had been completely oblivious to the conversation going on until Long heard his name followed by the door closing. That's when he and Alice realized they were alone in the apartment. They look out the window to see the large burgundy Suburban pull off into the sunset, leaving the two speechless and dumb founded. As they were taking all of this in, Alice's phone received a text message.

~Tell mom Kenji will bring me home a little later. He's meeting us at the restaurant. Thanks. 3~

Alice was furious and depressed at the same time. She sighed in defeat before looking over to Long.

"I really hope you can get through to her. Because if things don't change, our mother or I am going to kill her." She said in a depressed tone.

"I will certainly try." He said heavily. With that Alice left the room, and soon after could be heard driving off toward her mother's house.

Soon enough, three zoanthopes were walking into a diner and promptly took a seat at a table carrying light conversation.

"Shenlong, are you really involved with the city's fight ring?" Uriko asked intrigued and hesitant at the same time.

"Yep, I'm the strongest fighter in the city." He said with a grin, looking over at Shina who playfully scoffed at him. When he looked at Uriko he raised an eyebrow at her uncertain expression.

"Whats wrong?" He pondered.

"Umm…. Do you think I could come see you fight? I need to get out of my house from time to time." She said shyly.

"That may not be such a good idea Uriko." Shina answered for him causing both of them to look at her.

"From what I've heard, that's one dangerous crowd." A voice said from behind the table. Kenji was walking over to the table with a concerned look on his face.

"And how would you know Kenji?" Uriko asked playfully as she jumped up to give him a hug. After the embrace, the two took seats beside one another.

"He knows because I've fought his brother a couple times." Shenlong said with a devilish grin. This noticeably upset Kenji.

"Really? I didn't know Yugo was involved with in the fights too." The young girl was shocked. Alice never said anything about Yugo fighting outside of the boxing ring.

"I didn't know that either." Shina added. "Is he any good?"

"Yea actually he's the only one I get to fight who I can really let loose on. In fact last time we fought we accidently destroyed the building we used to host the fights." He said with a light laugh. "Your dad was the one who helped us relocate Babe." Shina lightly blushed at being called Babe but smacked him on the head anyway.

"Don't call me Babe." She ordered. "Are you sure it was my dad? He never brought the fights up to me." She questioned.

"Yep, it was him, but you don't need to worry about that. I'm actually not supposed to tell anyone where the fights are held unless they are being invited to fight or have some deep pockets." He finished. Uriko was lightly put off by being denied access to the see him fight, but didn't push the issue.

"How do you choose who you invite to fight?" Uriko asked with an innocent voice.

"By fighting in the street and being noticed by someone from the pit." Shina answered.

"But that's all you need to know about that Kitten." Shenlong said patting her on her head. "Besides if Long hasn't trained you beyond the basics, you would really get hurt if you got involved in the fights."

"You would know wouldn't you?" Kenji said in an accusing tone.

"Whats your problem kid?" Shenlong's voice deepened.

"The last time you fought my brother you almost put him in the hospital, that's what!" Kenji said through gritted teeth.

"HEY! Let me set something straight!" Shenlong's tone sent the boy from anger to shock.

"I'm not some coward who goes picking fights with people, got that! Your brother and I work out together every other day and every once in a while he comes down to the pit to test his skills and stretch his legs. There are some really strong and fighters down at the pit, but none of them have impressed me more than your brother." He said pointing a stern finger at the young boy's face.

"He's one of the only ones I have ever had to transform in order to fight and truth is, he's kicked my ass a couple times!" Shenlong's words made the boy slump down into his seat and almost fall to the floor.

"Wait are you telling me that Yugo wanted to fight you… for fun?" The boy asked with a confused stare. Uriko looked from him back to Shenlong.

"Yea, that's exactly what I'm telling you kid. Maybe if you asked him about it instead of getting mad at me you wouldn't have just made a fool of yourself." Shenlong was riled up at this point. He did not like being accused of crimes he didn't commit or be compared to some low life street punk. Shina placed a hand on his shoulder and brought him back to his senses.

"I'm sorry." Kenji said with his head hung low. "It's just that with all of the things people say about you, I thought you were just a tyrant trying to cause chaos in the city and hurt others." He bowed n respect.

"Actually its quite the opposite." Shenlong started in a calm tone. At this point all three of the others were looking at him for further explanation. Shenlong sighed before he started his explanation.

"Think of it like this. There are a lot of low life's and lost causes in this city, and some of them actually have some potential in life if the cruel world doesn't drain it out of them first. The fights are a way for talented fighters and rich gamblers to come and put all their attention, cash and skill to one cause. Plus, with all of the money tied up in the fights, things like drugs and gangs are rare in the city. People don't even use steroids because the pit is exclusively for skilled and talented fighters with some sense of pride. That's also why it's by invitation only. Scouts are constantly combing the streets looking for talent. If any of them saw someone using some kind of drug to help them fight, they could fight everyday for the rest of their life and never get into the pit. Those that do get in are paid for the fights they win and train very hard to get to that level." Shenlong's voice was strong and almost inspirational in a way.

"It's a second chance for people who normally wouldn't have made anything out of their lives." He finished in a serious tone. No one had ever taken the time to think of the underground fight ring as a positive thing. Only as another form of organized crime that was plaguing the city, when in fact it was probably saving the city from being a much harsher place.

"SHENLONG YOU HAVE TO TRAIN ME!" Uriko demanded with a grin on her face and stars in her eyes.

"What… why...?" He was caught off guard by the sudden request.

"Because Master Long refuses to teach me anything beyond the basics." She said with a pout. "I know it's wrong to go behind your master's back like this, but if he wont teach me then I need to find someone who will." She said with a strong tone.

"I'll think about it…" He said uncomfortably.

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" She cheered. "You are the best big brother EVER!"

"Calm down, will ya." He laughed. "I'm not exactly good at teaching others, so that could be a problem. Not to mention a few other things I have to consider."

"Hi there, my name is Kelly and I will be taking your orders this evening. Can I start you off with a drink?" the waitress said bringing the conversation to an end.

"Saved by the bell!" Shenlong sighed in reliefe. The group placed their orders and continued the evening with light conversation. Unbeknownst to the group a certain Chinese pair was walking down the block plotting their revenge and their next attempt into the pit.

"Dammit Xie! Now how are we going to get into the pit and take over this dump?" The larger man growled.

"Be quiet, Panda. Do you want every fighter in the city to know our plan?" Xie responded with a sarcastic tone.

"I already told you, I'm a SUN-BEAR! NOT A FUCKING PANDA!" Hung roared.

"And I told you to quiet down!" Xie scolded him. The pair had still not recovered from their defeat, and had still not come up with a way to find the pit.

"What the hell happened to you back there anyway?" Hung asked finally starting to calm down. "One minute that spotted freak put her knee in my skull, the next you come crashing into me with your shell cracked open."

"I was ambushed by another zoanthrope, and it was only a small crack. I still have my venom for the next fighter we find."

"I just want to find that girl again and when I do, things will end much differently. I promise you." Hung snarled while loudly cracking his knuckles. Just then they were passing the diner when a head of yellow hair caught Xie's sharp eye.

"Well my friend you may have your chance sooner than you expected." He said motioning into the diner.

"There she is! Smug bitch I'm gunna tear those claws of her's out." He began to stomp toward the entrance when Xie grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. The enraged man looked over his shoulder to see Xie quietly shake his head.

"Take another look inside you idiot. She has companions this time. I'm not sure what to make of the younger two, but I get an odd vibe from the man she's with. The children might be their siblings or something. Lets keep an eye on them and make our move when the time is right." Xie finished with a sinister smile. Hung glared through the window, then got an idea of his own which brought a toothy smile to his face.

"I think I know how to hit that jungle cat right where it hurts." Hung said with a chuckle.

"Well thought my friend. But like I said we strike when the time is right." Xie said with a satanic look in his eye. As the two found a less conspicuous spot to watch from a green Jeep pulled into a parking spot and out stepped Yugo. Hung gave him a cocky glance before continuing across the street with his comrade. Yugo looked back to the spot where they were walking from and saw that it had a clear view of his little brother's table. This made him nervous but decided to keep quiet until he got to the table.

"What's new Pussy cat?" He jokingly greeted Shenlong when he got close to table.

"How's it goin Shina?" He gave her a light hug before continuing to entertain Shenlong.

"What up Pup?" Shenlong greeted him with a fist bump. "You here to play driver on our siblings little date?" He finished with a laugh.

"OUR siblings?" Yugo repeated with a raised eyebrow, looking over to Kenji for elaboration.

"Yep." Shina answered instead. "Little Uriko here has chosen Shenlong to be her big brother." She ended with a light laugh. Yugo's mouth dropped as he looked over to Shenlong who now had a teenage girl wrapping her arms around his neck and cheesing a big grin.

"What? I couldn't say no, for some reason." He gave a nervous laugh. Yugo looked over to Kenji who simply palmed his face and shook his head. When he looked back to Shenlong, he burst into hysterical laughter. Shenlong started to growl under his breath, but Uriko suddenly kicked Yugo's feet from under him causing him to fall flat on his butt. Now it was Shenlong's turn to laugh at his friend's humiliation.

"HA! Servers you right Pup!" He shouted pointing a finger at his fallen friend.

"Don't laugh at my brother Yugo." Uriko scorned and tapped him on the head.

"Ok, ok sorry." He put his hands up in surrender still laughing lightly. "It's just that I never pegged you for the brother type Shenlong."

"What can I say, I gotta soft spot for the kid." He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder before helping Yugo up. "You understand." He said nodding his head over toward Kenji.

"Yea, ok I guess, but what is Alice going to say when she finds out?" The thought seemed to make everyone laugh and sigh at the same time.

"Wait… don't tell me… She already knows?" He looked around nervously.

"Your little girlfriend flipped out just seeing her in the same room as him." Shina chuckled.

"Really? Somehow that doesn't surprise me." He laughed lightly to himself. He began rubbing the back of his head. "How bad was it?" He sighed, fearing the answer. Uriko lifted her pants leg to show the bruises on her shin. Yugo looked in shock for a moment then sighed to himself shaking his head.

"I can't believe she would go that far for something like this. Were you in any kind of danger?" He asked making sure to cover his basses.

"No. Shenlong was passed out on a couch when she came in. I was talking to him in his sleep to calm his mind when she grabbed my leg and took out Shina, Master Long and Mr. Gado to get me away from him." Uriko said quietly slightly angry with her sister for what had happened.

"She clearly overreacted if he wasn't even conscious when she got there. Then again, Shenlong you don't exactly have the best reputation around ya know. It doesn't excuse her actions by any means, but it's not hard to think of what was going through her mind." He said calmly. Uriko folded her arms and scoffed, but Shenlong simply sighed and nodded whilst rubbing the back of his head.

"Anyway, Uriko you have your final exam tomorrow before you're set loose for the summer right?" Yugo changed the subject. "I'm sure you're going to catch hell when you get home, but the sooner that's over with the sooner you can get some rest before your last day." He said with a light smile.

"Yea you're right. I guess its time for me to go face my mother. Lord knows what my mom's gunna say." She said with her head hung low.

"Hey don't worry too much. There's only so much they can say in one night. Besides I know you're going to do just fine on your test tomorrow." Shenlong patted her head and gave a warm smile. She immediately cheered up and smiled as well. Kenji walked up and took her hand.

"Come on Uriko. Lets get you home." He said with a smile. Even Shina gave a thumb's up as she rested herself on Shenlong's shoulder. With a crowd like this, even facing the grim reaper would feel like a trip to pick flowers.

"Thanks guys. Yugo I'm ready to go home." The young girl said with a smile. She gave Shenlong another hug before walking out of the door with Kenji and Yugo. When the jeep pulled off, Shelong and Shina went back to talking.

"You know, you're a pretty good at this brother stuff, Shen." Shina said with a smile as they moved their food over to a booth from the table. Shenlong slid in next to a window, and to is pleasant surprise, Shina slid in next to him and rested hers head on his shoulder. He smiled to himself and took a sip of his soda.

"So do you still want to fight me tonight?" He asked coyly. Shina's eyes went wide for a moment then she simply smiled.

"Well aren't you clever?" She asked mockingly. "Actually I think I will take you up on that offer some other time. Tonight I will play spectator." She said cozying back up to him.

"I'll take that. After a few rounds maybe we can head out for some real fun." Shenlong chuckled.

"Haha, you will just have to wait and see." She teased with a wink. "Don't you have a deep sea fishing boat at the docks? Maybe a night on the water under the starts would be nice, then some fresh fish for breakfast." She said with a purr. That was all the motivation he needed, and in a flash he was making a call.

"Hey, yea that newbie you told me about. Yea that's the one, looks like the roster has changed a little. Tell those greedy bastards that tonight are gunna be a short night for me. Yep. Ok then set up some interesting matches at the usual bids and let me take care of the rest. I'm gone by midnight so it really doesn't matter to me. Yep that's how it is, be there in a few." And with that, the night was on. Shenlong left the money on the table and the two headed out the door.

When they got out into the warm night air, Shina picked up a familiar scent and it made her tense. Shenlong had noticed her sudden change in mood and quietly surveyed the area for the cause. He picked up the scent of dry blood, and the stink of wet bear. They were being followed but pretended not to notice until they were down in the subway, which was empty save for a couple drifters looking for a place to shelter them for the night.

"That's it. I can't wait anymore. No bat is going to swoop in and save you this time girly!" Hung came down the stairs as boisterous as ever, with Xie standing quietly near the top of the stairs just watching.

"First I'm gunna bury this shrimp, then I'm going to enjoy hearing you scream." He finished then immediately transformed. He didn't even have time refocus his vision before Shenlong planted his fist between his eyes, causing the giant to stumble back and groan heavily.

"Babe do you know these idiots?" He asked as the bear moaned and rubbed his face.

"Some freaks from China want to take over the pit and control the city." She responded before transforming. Hung came to his senses and charged Shenlong but was caught off guard by a swift kick to the gut that knocked the air from his body followed up by a beast powered cross kick to the face from Shina. Hung staggered around the subway blindly swiping at blurred visions of Shenlong and Shina. He was so disoriented that he couldn't maintain his transformation. He reverted to his human form and in a rage tried to attack Shenlong again. In an instant Shenlong had performed a dragon fist combo that made all of Hung's limbs go limp, a duel palm to the chest paused his breathing and a cross kick to the face sent all of Hungs dead weight soaring up the stairs and back onto the street. Xie couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Though he was the superior fighter, Hung was still more than a match for nearly every opponent they had ever come across. But he was just beaten almost single handedly, and by a mere human at that. This was impossible for Xie to comprehend. The only thing he knew was that he had to collect Hung and get away from him NOW, and that is exactly what he did. Without further hesitation, Xie had disappeared back to the surface, hoisted Hung's body over his shoulders and ran as far as he could.

"Well that was random." Shenlong said rolling his eyes. Shina transformed back to her human form and took a moment to take in just how fast she and Shenlong took down Hung.

"Wow Shen, I'm glad I decided not to fight you tonight." Those two were a real handful for me the other night and you took him out in a few seconds without even transforming." She was feeling both impressed and envious at the same time. "I see why you're king of the cities fighting ring and one of the wealthiest men in the city." She finished with a smile

"Don't worry, I would have gone easy on you." He joked, however it earned him a punch to the face.

"You jack-ass. You know I would rather get beaten to a pulp than have someone hold back against me. I fight with all I've got every time, don't insult me by not doing the same." She said through gritted teeth. Her blood was lightly boiling from Shenlong's comment combined with how obvious the gap between their strength and abilities was. Instead of begging forgiveness or teasing her further, Shenlong simply kissed her forehead.

"Calm down slugger. You would probably kill me if I didn't go all out in a fight with you. Rest assured, if we ever do really go at it, I will come at you with everything I've got." He said throwing his fist out and giving her a wink. Shina was slightly dumbfounded, then her anger suddenly melted away, and she laughed.

"Let's just get going. You still owe me a boat ride and breakfast, so I don't want to waist anymore time." She said with a playful wink. Right on cue, the train pulled in to the station and the two were off to the south end of the city, as close as they could get to the docks by train.

On the way there Shenlong made sure to let Gado know that the plans had changed for the evening, and even authorized his agent to move all his paperwork through for him. Everything was going smoothly for the blue tiger recently. Despite past struggles and complications, everything for now was right and none of his problems mattered. When they reached the docks, the two pulled up a couple ringside seats looking down into the pit. A fight between two new comers had been going on and was starting to wind down. The two had one arm handcuffed to one another and a weapon in their free hand. One fighter had a pink Mowhawk and was wielding a trench knife. The other man was completely bald and wielded a short metal pipe. Though the bald man had some cuts and slashes on his body, the one with pink hair was clearly losing this fight. His face and body were badly buised and swollen, and he was starting to lose his footing. Shenlong looked down with a smirk as the bald man finished off his opponent. He hit the knife from the man's hand then pulled him in by his cuffed hand and landed a headbut square on the bridge of the pink haired man's nose. Just that quick, the fight was over, both Shina and Shenlong were impressed by his skill.

"I see how he got in here." Shenlong said with a smile. "You wunna get in there and work up a little sweat?" He smirked toward Shina. She tapped his forehead whith her fingertips then leapt down into the pit ready to put on a show. Shenlong grabbed the announcer and told him to open up the pit to all new challengers.

"New to the pit by way of our top fighter Shenlong, I preseant Madame Marvel." A young woman shouted into a microphone. Though it was rare for women to get into the pit, it was not unheard of. Unfortunately for them, as hard as it was to get in, it was even harder to be allowed to stay. If someone lost too many fights, they would be banned from to pit, and if they tried to force their way back in or get the authorities involved, the pit would simply shut down as long as nescesary and the snitch would be paralyzed from the waist down or removed from the city all together if needed. The few women of the pit were fierce competitors, and a number of them were zoanthrope. All of them wanted the chance to improve their ranking by taking down the broad that was brought by the king himself.

"So who's first?" Shina snatched the mic from the announcer. In an instant, two blonde women and skinny man lept down into the pit to accept her challenge.

"These two should be more than enough for someone like you girly." The man said patting his companions on their butts sending them forward. The two girls were twins with matching tattoos, lip piercings and even wore similar outfits that happened to be quite revealing. Shina sunk into a fighting stance and struck a grin.

"This will be over quickly." She teased. Immediately the girls transformed reveling to be golden fox zoanthropes. They charged her, but she dodged by leaping over their heads with a front flip. She waited no time in evening the odds by picking one of the twins and bringing an axe kick down on the base of her skull knocking her out cold. The remaining twin rushed to her siblings aid and became infuriated at Shina for what she had done.

The remaining fox dropped to all fours and charged Shina with surprising speed slashing at her chest with her claws. Shina dodged at the last second, but her shirt was shredded, exposing most of her bra and her ample chest. The crowd cheered at the light strip fest. Shina was slightly angered by such a dirty move but quickly figured out how to go about getting her foxy opponent back. She braced herself for another charge. She started to transform her arms and hands for a quick strike. When the fox charged again Shina ducked the swipe and shredded the front of her shirt and tore slits in her bra, causing her full C cups to almost burst out of her top all together.

"Well arnt you purky this evening." Shina teased, pressing her finger to he bottom lip makinga cute face.

The fox snarled lept to kick Shina in the face, but missed, and this time it would cost her. Shina dipped under the attack and reached up catching the fox's bra strap and the back of her shirt. With a hard snatch, she pulled the foxes breasts to her face causing the bra to be destroyed completely and the collar of her shirt choked her airway making her pass out and reverts to human form before she hit the ground. Shina held her limp and exposed body up by the tattered collar for the crowd to get a full view of her fully exposed breasts and pierced nipples. The crown erupted in chear and whistles at the spectacle. Shina looked up to Shenlong for his reaction. He was ignoring the half naked girl and looking directly at Shina with a smile and applauding her from his seat.

"You bitch!" The skinny man fumed. Someone from the stands threw him a hokey stick and he charged at Shina swinging at her head. She ducked the attack and tagged him in the gut with a swift uppercut. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he was done.

The crowd continued to shout and chear, and there was almost a riot as people were rushing to bid on Madame Marvel for the next fight. Shina's performance had caught the eye of a woman sitting in the stands. After a large bouncer removed the bodies from the pit, she leapt down to the pit to face Shina next.


	7. Chapter 7

"That was quite imprssive." She complimented as Shina sized her up to guess what she may be up against.

"Be careful with this one Babe. She's quick." Shenlong called from above the pit. Shina nodded and continued to examine the woman. She was older than Shina by a few years, but much more slender. Her arms and legs were long and appeared to be quite nimble. She wore a red velvet top with one long sleave that exposed her right shoulder and arm as well as her tone midsection; and an open sided skirt went down to her ankles. When she walked one of her leg was completely exposed from her hip down. It was the sort of outfit Jenny would wear, and Shina hated it.

"It's nice to see another set of spots in the pit for once, though I don't think you will be staying very long. Just because the king's your boyfriend don't think you will be given special treatment little girl." The woman teased, but Shina was not fazed.

"Don't you worry about that kitty, just make sure your boyfriend doesn't interfier. He looks like one of those protective over compensating types." She winked at the woman, tilting her head at a muscular man that had moved close to the edge of the pit and was glaring at Shenlong then back down into the pit.

"You don't have to worry about Javier, his spots are much to beautiful to be wasted on the lights of you." She said defensively, not liking for younger women to catch her mans attention. "And the name's not Kitty, it's Scarlette. I suggest you remember that, or you might reget it."

With that, their battle had begun. Scarlette was quicker than Shina anticipated. Even with Shenlong's warning, she had not anticipated the flurry of punches that seemed to come at her from all sides at once. It was all she could do to dodge the ones that would do the most damage, all the other attacks she would have to endur. Scarlette was not letting up and was trying to force Shina against the edge of the pit, but her punches though fast didn't pack a lot of power, so Shina was able to hold her ground for the most part. Shina watched her adversary intently, picking up on her rythem and looking for an opening, and she found it. Every fifth punch, Scarlette had to readjust her footing, and for an instant her vitals were wide open. The window Shina had to work with was small, but she would have to make it enough.

"Whats the matter Marvel, is defend all you can do? Here I thought you would give me some sort of challenge." Scarlette mocked trying to get Shina to make a slip in he defence, but she failed.

'One, two, three, four…' Shina counted the strikes in her mind, carful not to let the older woman know she had discovered the flaw in her attack.

"FIVE!" With that Shina swept Scarlette's legs from under her, then landed a sidekick directly on her diafragm, sending her flying across the pit into the wall. The crowd began to chear Shina on again and her boyfriend gritted his teeth, staring down into the pit.

'It's not over yet Babe.' Shenlong thought, looking down into the pit with a cold expression.

Before the dust from Shina's attack cleared there was a burst of energy and a yellow blur. Scarlette had transformed and launched herself at Shina, connecting with a round kick that dropped Shina on he back. She recovered quickly and looked up to see Scarlet was now a tall, slender cheetah with a long tail and piercing golden eyes.

"Cheetah print is so takey, let me show you something a bit more exotic!" With a roar and a burst of energy Shina was fully transformed and bareing her fangs at her speedy adversary. Scarlette responded with a snarl and a hiss before the two were back at it.

The fight had assended to a whole nother level; neither cat was able to land a decisive blow. Scarlette would easily dodge Shina's swipes and punches, and then counter with a barrage of punches and swipes of her own. Shina would only dodge the most powerful of Scarlettes attacks, and then counter with kicks, punches and swipes. There were countless close hits and near misses; both women's cloths were not but tathered rags at this point. Both of their tops had been shredded completely down the middle exposing them for all to see.

"No wonder you have such a wide range of motion, there isn't much getting in your way." Shina teased. Scarlette was a full B cup in human form and a C when transformed, but next to Shina's full D's when transformed, there wasn't much comparison. Scarlette hissed in anger and ferociously attacked even faster.

Shina's already torn jeans were now barely covering her upper thighs, and three quarters of her skirt had been ripped from her lower body. The two looked like a pair of wild cats that had fallen into a clothing bin, and shredded everything in sight to attack oneanother. The battle seemed to have no end in sight when Shina managed to tag Scarlette in the chin with a powerful left hook, dropping her to the floor. The two were exausted and were forced to revert back to human form, but this fight was still far from over. Being a cheetah, Scarlette was the more worn of the two and he body was expelling massive amounts of heat with each breath in attempt to cool herself down. She looked to Javier and snapped her fingers. Suddenly a wave of cold water rained into the pit and steam literally rolled off of both womens bodies. Javier had thrown a bucket of ice water from behind the bar into the pit, drenching both Shina and Scarlette, cooling them down and prepairing them to continue fighting. Scarlette launched herself at Shina again but was intersected with a knee to the chest that sent her slamming against the wall. She coughed up a bit of blood and without warning Javier was sailing down into the pit to join the fight.

"SHINA MOVE NOW!" Shenlong shouted.

Javier lept straight for Shina, aiming to crush her skull, but Shenlong's warning reached her just in time for her o roll out of the way. Javier was tall, but stocky and heavy with muscle and had long black hair tied in a ponytail. He wore a three-piece suite when an open collar and had gold rings on all of his fingers. He was savagely punching and stomping at the ground, trying to smash Shina, but she continued to roll out of his reach. That is until she reached the pit wall. She was cornered and Javier had her in his sights.

"ENOUGH!" Shenlong stood and shouted from above the pit. His voice boomed though the building and everything came to a hault even Javier looked up to see the King of the Pit was infuriated.

"This match is over. Javier, by interfering with the match, you have forfeited to Marvel and both you and Scarlette will drop a rank for losing to a newcomer. Stand down unless you want to face me next." Shenlong ordered releasing a wave of energy with rage in his eyes. Javier looked down at Shina gritting his teeth and clenching his fist so tight his palm began to bleed. He agreed to the turms of the pit when he and Scarlette were invited in over a year ago. They had quickly moved up the ranks thanks to her speed and his brute strength, but Shenlong was the most powerful fighter in the city and he ran the pit fairly and justly. He started to back down when Scarlette's voice broke the silence.

"You're all talk Shenlong!" Scarlette shouted from the other side of the pit. "Javier, grab her! Even the ruthless Shenlong will back down if some one he cares for is in harms way." Javier moved closer to Shina and started to grab her by the neck, but stopped at the sound of Shenlong's voice.

"Javier I'm warning you. Right now I understand why you're fighting, believe me I do." He looked down at Javier with understanding in his eyes. Javier's stare met his, and then he looked back at Scarlette who had fully recovered at this point and wanted to keep fighting. He looked down at Shina who was ready to fight but clearly had no desire to continue like this.

"Shenlong…" Javier said shakily. "We challenge both of you. Two on two! Do you accept?" He spoke with a heavy Brazilian accent, but was still understandable.

"Shina what do you say?" Shenlong looked to her for the final decision.

"Lets do it!" She stood back up and was ready to start another match. With that Javier walked back across the pit to Scalettes side, and Shenlong lept into the pit. People in the stands scrambeled to place bets and get the best seats for what the announcer called the cat fight of the century. Javier may be unskilled but his strength was formidable, and it would make this fight all the more interesting.

"Javier you fool! We had him by the balls and you pull a stunt like this?" Scarlette growled.

"If you were wrong and Shenlong came after us even though we had that woman, he would have probably gone berserk with rage like I did and killed us both! Or have us banned from the pit if we were lucky!" He said sternly, causing Scarlette to flinch.

"At least this way we still have some honor and won't be forced to leave. We can win other fights and regain our rank, but once someone gets kicked out of the pit, there is no coming back. You must understand this." He looked at her sympathetically. "Scarlette I love you, eu te amo. And I would do anything for you. But now I have to protect us both, so we can be stay here together."

"I understand." She rubbed the side of his faceand kissed him lightly. "If we are going to do this then lets go all out." She said with a smirk before kissing him.

At that, the two transformed and prepaired for the fight of their life. Javier was a large Jaguar a little taller than Shina and just as muscular as Shenlong's beast form. The two roared in unison at their opponants, sending them a clear message. Shenlong and Shina recieved it loud and clear and transformed themselves as well. The teams stared eachother down for a moment then by some unheard trigger quickly launched themselves at one another.

Shina and Scarlette were back in their dead heat while Javier and Shenlong wrestled around in the middle of the pit. Who had the upper hand, seemed to change with every passing moment. One second Javier would be positioning Shenlong for a grapple hold or a joint lock, but Shenlong would break out each time. This went on for what seemed like forever until Scarlette and Javier were reaching the limits of their stamina. They nodded to one another silently saying, 'Lets finish this.' Javier lept into the air to perform his finishing move, and Scarlette ran as fast as she could around the ring building up momentum. Shenlong performed his opening dragon stances and stomped just as Javier came with in his range. He finished Javier off with a Golden double shadowless kick that carried both of them high above the pit before Javier's limp body and he fell back to the ground. Javier lay passed out in the middle of the pit and Shenlong looked up just in time to see Scarlette execute a lightning fast tornado kick square into Shina's midsection making her collapse.

Shenlong walked over to Shina and helped her up. "Lets call this one a draw." He said with a smirk. Scarlette was thankfull and limped over to collect Javier who was beginning to recover. The men gave their respective companions their jackets finally allowing them to cover their chests and all of them exited the pit to a chearing crowd that jumped in applause. Shenlong helped Shina to walk toward the door, and on their way out they simply laughed to one another.

"You still feel up to that boat ride?" Shenlong asked half teasing.

"You better believe it. You didn't think a few bruises were going to get you off the hook did you?" Shina responded shakily with shortened breaths.

"Never crossed my mind." He laughed. After cashing out for the night and a few minutes of walking Shina felt strong enough to walk on her own again. With in another ten minutes, they had reached the pier where Shenlong's boat was teathered. After some prep work and a systems check, the two were motoring out into the night, with the full moon's light to guide them.

Shenlongn cut the motor and dropped anchor about a mile off shore. The lights of the city shined beautifully in the distance, and this far out the moon was fully visable, a sight reserved for the highest points in the city. But even those views pailed in comparison to the view out on the water.

"Well that was an eventful evening." Shenlong smirked looking down at Shina, who had just come up from below deck with a new set of cloths on.

"Aww, and I was really digging the topless look Babe." He said with a wink and a sniker. Shina threw his purple button down shirt at his face and playfully scoffed at him.

"I'm sure you were. Simple minded men are so captivated by these things." She pulled her collar down exposing her moonlit cleavage and playfully bounced her breasts with her free arm.

"Even a little peak will make you drool." She teased. Shenlong was wide eyed at first, but quickly freed himself from Shina's little spell.

"Don't pretend its onesided." He laughed. He slowly removed his tank top showing his excellent muscle tone. The moonlight cascaded over every muscle and even Shina couldn't deny it. He was cut like a diaomand, and twice as strong. Shina couldn't help but stare as her put on the shirt she threw at him but only fastened a few buttons in the middle.

"You can wipe the drool from your face now." He said in a cocky tone, whipping his hair back with his hand. Shina had to blink herself out of her daze, slightly embarrassed that she had fallen into such a state.

"Whatever pretty boy." She strutted toward him seductively, taking control of the situation again. She reached him and pressed a finger to his lips, then traced his jaw before plucking it from his chin.

"How about you grab us something to drink while I mess with the radio a bit." She suggested. Shenlong waisted no time heading below deck, and retrieveing a bottle and two chapagne glasses. On his way back up, he heard the sound of some old school jazz in the air and walking on the ships bow. He got back up to see Shina layed out on the front of the boat relaxing with her eyes closed, and her hands behind her head.

"I never expected you to be into this old stuff." Shenlong said making his way over to her.

"Yea, pops has a bunch of old jazz, blues and R&B records he likes to listen to. Guess I picked it up from him." Her voice was remenisant. Shenlong leaned against the boat rail and poured the bottle of bubbly into their glasses before helping Shina to her feet.

"Here's to one of the best days I've had in ages." Shenlong raised his glass to Shina. They toasted and took a sip as the DJ's voice came over the radio.

**Now these young couples don't know nothing bout real love. So this one goes out to the grown folk who found them self a new love or recendled an old flame.**

When he stopped talking a melody came over the airwaves for a bit, and then was followed by Frank Senatra's voice. It was his rendition of "The way you look tonight" and Shina couldn't resist swaying to the tune. Shenlong noticed and sat his drink down before pulling he to the middle of the bow and began slow dancing with her under the stars. Though caught off guard, she didn't resist at all. Instead she stared deeply into his eyes as the song filled the night air, joined by the chorus of waves rolling against the boat's hull. Normally Shenlong would never allow himself to be so intemit with anyone, but with Shina he was at peace. He could finally let his guard down, as could she. It was rare for Shina to behave with any form of feminimity. She was always forced to be strong a nd firm; only ever showing her feminie side when safely at home with her father or in rare occasions like this.

As the song came to an end, the two shared a passionate kiss, in a moment that neither of them wanted to end. When they finally pulled away, they laid back on the hood of the ship together. With Shina resting her head on Shenlong's chest and his arms draped over her. The wind bushed his face with her golden hair, and each time he breathed deep taking in her scent along with that of the salted waters around them. Shina simply listened to his heartbeat as she felt his chest rise and fall with every breath; combined with the smooth jazz that serenaded them.

Shina tilted her head up and lightly kissed him before getting up and walking toward the main deck of the boat. He looked up to see her looking back at him lustfully before disappearing below deck. He soon followed and joined her on the bed where their fit of passion continued. "Lets get it on" by Marvin Gaye barreled out of the boats speakers and that's just what they did. Amongst all of their kissing, hugging, rubbing and touching, their cloths were rapidly being removed. They even ripped some of the cloths from eachothers bodies, unable to hold back any longer. That night clean into the earlyest hours of the morning, the two bodies were one. They moved in eachother in an endless heat of passion neither had thought possible before passing out in lustful bliss.

After their night of passion, the two returned to the deck to watch the sunrise from the horizon. Seeming to slowly climb out of the sea, the sun's rays warmed their bare bodies, as the nois from the city could be heard in the distance. A few minutes after the sun was fully in the sky, Shina had finally succumbed to her exaustion. Shenlong carried her back below deck where they two shared a well-earned sleep through the morning.

Shina awoke a few hours later with a stretch and a glance out of a near by window. She was caught off guard by a roar followed by the sound of a loud splash at the portside of the ship. She rushed above deck to see Shenlong transformed and wrestling a large blue marlin onto the back of the ship. Once back on board, he sank his claws deep into the flailing fishes head and tore it from the rest of the body. Shina shook her head as he reverted to human form and began prepping an on-board-grill.

"You could have just used a fishing pole ya know." She said with playful sarcasm.

"Yea I know, but that was much more fun." He grinned at her as he got the fire going and set some lemon slices on a sheet of foil. He grabed a knife and quickly scaled and gutted the fish. He cut a couple large fillets from its side and set them on the foil with the lemon, then cut a large steak from the fish and set that over the open flame.

"Can you keep an eye on those for me so I can put the rest of this bad boy in the ice box?" He requested while cutting the rest of the meat from the carcus.

"Sure, nothing like fresh fish for breakfast. And I don't think it gets any fresher than this." She giggled as her moved the rest of the meat to a large cooler filled with ice. The rest of the remains, he put into a bucked labeled "Chum", and secured that at the back of the boat. He made his way back over to the grill and preaired the food like a master chef. With some seasoning and and a bit of flair to impress Shina, he had cooked up an excellent meal.

"Wow, who knew you were such a talented chef." She said in slight disbelief.

"There's a lot about me you don't know. People would never guess that someone like me actually had any redeaming talents." He joked. After taking a bite of her fillet, Shina's eyes went wide as socers.

"This is freakin delicious!" She shouted with her mouth still full. "Where did you learn to cook like this?" Shenlong could'nt help but laugh at Shina's amazement.

"I told you. There's a lot about me you would never guess." He said wit a smirk.

After breakfast, and some fun teasing a couple small sharks with the chum from the mornings catch, the two shared a shower and decided it was time to get back to the city. While they cruised back to the docks sharing beaming smiles, their fellow zoanthropes didn't have much to smile about.

Yugo may as well have driven straight into the jaws of hell last night, because no sooner than when he had pulled up to Uriko's home to drop her off for the evening, had Mitsuko and Alice burst out of the house to scold her as well as Yugo and Kenji for "allowing this to happen". Yugo was slightly off the hook, because he had not known anything until he arrived at the diner. But Kenji was there that morning Shenlong bumped into them, and neglected to say anything. As for Uriko, there were not enough hours in a lifetime for Mitsuko to vent her rage toward her youngest daughter. Mitsuko had a hard time trusting anyone. The only reasin she trusted Yugo and Kenji is because Alice and Yugo were already dating years ago when Mitsuko adopted her. It took her a few years to trust Long enough to train Uriko regularly, but Shenlong was a different story all together.

In Mitsuko's eye's, Shenlong was a monster, a wild lab experiment without a soul. The fact that he almost decapitated her eldest child without even being conscious solidified that image of him in her mind. Now it was morning, and Shenlong was riding back to port like a proud pirate captain coming home from a successful voyage. But he would have been better off if Davey Jones was waiting for him instead of Mitsuko Mitsuko. She ran the docks with an iron fist, and on this day she was aiming that fist at a certain tiger.

"You know she's going to kill him right?" Kenji said as he walked Uriko to school.

"Will you stop saying that? My mom's not going to kill him. I doubt she will even be able to find him. Isn't that part of what all of you hate about him so much, that nobody really knows anything about him?" She gave him a cross look. Kenji looked away bashfully at first then met her glair with a smile.

"Actually Uriko, after yesterday I kinda like the guy." Kenji said lightly. Uriko's deminor completely changed. She was surprised that her boyfriend's opinion about Shenlong had changed.

"I know it's weird. But after the time we had at the diner with him Yugo and Shina, I really started to look at him different. Plus, after your mom finished ripping our eardrums out, Yugo told me how cool he was. Turns out Shenlong helps out a lot at the gym where they box." Kenji finished with a small smile on his face.

"See I've been telling you guys all along that he's not bad. Now if we could just convince my mom and Alice." She sighed.

"Yea… I don't see that happening in the near future… or any future for that matter. Especially after he bit Alice and almost slashed her up." He said making a clawing motion with his hand.

"Yea, but she happened to leave out the fact that it was her own falt!" Uriko said folding her arms and a pout forming on her face.

"I literally begged her to stop, and I warned her that he was half conscious and wanted to protect me. But did she listen? Of course not, she never listens to what I say, and this time it almost got her killed. He and my mom have got to change or I'm going to lose it! I don't know how much longer I can take it." She was gritting her teeth and shaking her head. Kenji put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a warm look to calm her down.

"Hey, relax. None of that matters right now. Today's your last exam, and then you will be free from school. We can deal with your family issues after that's taken care of." He laughed. Before they realized it, the two of them had reached the school and it was time for at least one headache to come to an end. The down side to that, was that now her family had all day to baby, lecture and all around annoy her. Uriko almost wanted to fail on purpose and go to summer school, but her pride would never allow her to do something so stupid.

"Oh goody…" She said sarcastically.

"You've got this in the bag hun. I wish you could come with Yugo and me this summer. We're traveling for the annual national boxing tournament. It's going to be great!" Kenji said in an excited tone.

"When are you guys leaving? I might be able to go if I leave right after the test." She said with a gleam of hope in her eyes. To her disappointment a green jeep pulled beside them.

"LETS GO BRO!" Yugo shouted out of the window with a grin. "Oh. Hey Uriko; glad to see Mitsuko actually let you out of the house." He finished with a laugh and gave the young girl a friendly hug.

"Yugo, do you guy's have to leave now? Give me a couple hours and I can tag along." She pleaded.

"Sorry Uriko, we gotta make it to Chicago by five and that means we gotta hit the road NOW!" he finished shooting his head at Kenji.

"Besides, I'm in no hurry to have your mom hunt us down in front of the whole tournament." He said with a nervous laugh.

"Yea but…" Uriko was interrupted by the school bell.

"Try to have a good day hun. I'll call you when we reach Chicago." Kenji hugged her and kissed her lightly before jumping into the truck with his brother. Uriko waved as the two of them took off down the road. She siged, as she sulked on toward her last day of school.

"You know she's going to kill him right?" Jenny looked to Gado with a concernted yet intrigued look in her eye.

"Yea, Stripes is probably a gonner for sure, but that's not my problem." The large man smirked as they drove a tractor trailor around the outside of the city to get to Shenlong's loft with out dealing with city traffic.

"On the bright side, Shina's working all day so she wont find out that Shenlong's new place is right above her head. Though I have to admit, that would be quite the show." Jenny said sadisticly. Gado gave a smirk as they pulled the truck infront of Shenlong's building. They didn't have to wait long before Shenlong walked up the siewalk.

"What the hell happened to you Stripes?" Gado asked with a raised brow. Shenlong's cloths were torn and he had a fist size bruise on his cheek.

"Damn pig…" He spat some blood out of his mouth onto the street. "Just let me change and we can load everything up and get going.

"Well, well, well. Looks like I was wrong. She didn't kill you after all." Jenny said lightly kissing him on the cheek as he sulked past her. Shenlong simply grunted and slamed the door behind himself. After about 15 minutes, Shenlong reappeaded in the doorway refreshed and carrying a couple large boxes.

"Sorry about that you two. Good idea bringing a big truck. We could have filled at least three of those little punk ass You-Haul trucks with this stuff." He smirked putting a box in front of the door to prop it open.

"Yea, I figured as much." Gado scoffed as he walked into the building. "You know not all of this is going to fit in the condominium. What are you gunna do with the crap you don't keep?" He asked looking over his shoulder at Shenlong who was stepping out of the trailor.

"Don't know yet. What ever doesn't fit I'll sell off, or donate to the gym." Shenlong replied as he and Gado headed in to grab furniture. Jenny moved a few small boxes into the truck, but most of that had been taken care of by movers hired by Shenlong's agent. She flew atop the trailor to watch the boys work. Within about two hours, everything was packed, stacked and secured in the back of the truck.

"All right now that that's taken care of, I say we stash this thing in an alley and grab something to eat." Shenlong suggested rubbing his stomach. Gado palmed his head shook off the suggestion.

"We can eat when the job is done Stripes. You should have spent your morning eating breakfast instead of playing with Mitsuko at the docks." Gado climbed into the drivers seat and started the engine. Suddenly, two men ran up from across the street. One pulled a knife and the other had a small gun.

"Alright old man, out of the truck now!" The gunman shouted. "You guys loaded some pretty nice swag back there; we should get some nice coin for tha…" He was silenced as a large fist plowed into his face. Gado caught the gun as the idiot dropped to the pavement.

"Hey Stripes. Hurry up will ya." Gado said in an annoyed tone.

"Yea, yea, I'm coming Mufasa." Shenlong responded climbing into the truck as well.

"What the hell. Alright old man, you're gunna pay for that one." The knife weirlder started to run up to the truck but was snatched into the air by Jenny.

"W-what… what the hell is this?" The man shouted looking up at the bat woman that was now carrying him into the sky. She simply licked her lips and gave him a sadistic look.

"Oh look, something to play with. Finally I can have some fun." She flashed a toothy grin that made the man's skin crawl.

" L-let me go you monster! You freak!" He started squirming and struggling in her grasp. Jenny found all of his struggling to be amusing, but his complaining was more than she cared to put up with.

"Fine tough guy; have it your way." She grined at him menacingly.

"W-wait… no... NOOOOOO" Jenny had got so fed up with his squirming; she dropped him into a tree from about ten stories up. The man cried and screamed the entire way down, then groaned as he bounced off of the flimsey branches in the tree dropping his knife to the ground some 16 feet below.

"Jenny lets go. These guys are starting to piss me off." Gado called out of the window, while emptying the bullets from the gun.

"Alright love, we can get going. He was no fun anyway." Jenny purred landing atop the trailor again. But the man wasn't done with his complaining just yet.

"Hey! You freaks cant leave me up here! Get me down! I know you can hear me! I said get me dow…." He was cut off as Gado threw the empty gun at his face, knocking him out of the tree.

"HEY! SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!" Shenlong called from the truck.

"Enough of this; lets go." With that, Gado drove toward the middle of the city. "Hey Stripes. Does your building have a service elevator like mine? That would make moving the bed and couches a lot easier."

"Yea, but its in the back of the building. There's enough room back there for us to pull through, but to get there we have to take an alley from the main road. I'll show you when we get there." Shenlong said while playing with the radio until he found a jazz station. That was something he and Gado could agree on. Within about 45 minutes, Gado was manuvering the druck down an alley at the end of the block. Shenlong was walking ahead of him, moving dumpsters and garbage out of the way so the truck could go through smoothly. After creeping along for a while, Gado managed to pull up to the back of Shenlongs building.

"Finally!" Shenlong griped. After three hours of unpacking and organizing his stuff. Gado refused to stop until every thing had a place to go. Either it was going inside, into storage or gotten rid of. In the end, they had set the place up pretty nicely, and the stuff to be donated could fit in the back of Gado's Suberban. Jenny decided to leave a couple houres ago, saying she wanted to have some more fun in the city.

"Alright Stripes. Lets drop the stuff off at the church and return the truck. After that we can eat." Gado said thumbing for him to take the wheel of the rig while he retrieved his own vehicle.

"Yea ok…" Shenlong was a mix of hunger and fatigue. After they put the charity items into Gado's truck, Shenlong had to clear the rest of the alley all the way to the next raod so they would be able to get the truck out safely.

"Remind me why we didn't just park on the street again…" He griped, but as he looked out on to the street he saw a number of busses, garbage trucks, cars and a street sweaper go by. "Oh yea… that's why." He climbed into the rig and made his way to the next road where Gado was waiting for him. Just as they said, they first made their way to the St. Julian's Babtist church to drop off the charitables, and then they made their way to the edge of the city to get rid of the truck.


	8. Chapter 8

"Come on Stripes I know a place up town that does some pretty good BBQ" Gado motioned for him to get in the car. The word BBQ almost made Shenlong drool since he hadn't eaten since that morning and never realized how much heavy crap he owned.

Nearby at the library, Uriko was being watched like a hawk by her kenpo master.

"Master Long can we go now? This place is so boring!" Uriko wined for the 12th time in five minutes.

"Uriko, why don't you occupie yourself with some books. That is what people normally come to libraries for. My shift will be over soon enough and I can take you home. Or you can call your sister to come get you… Uriko, what are you doing?" He looked over to see Uriko grab five books off the shelf and weigh them in her hands.

"Occupying myself with books like you said Master Long." Uriko then proceeded to juggle the books in the middle of the room. Long sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe you should call your sister…" He started, but was quickly cut off byhis pupil.

"And have her drag me home to smother me and lecture me until my mom shows up to finish me off? I don't think so. I'm avoiding those two as much as physically possible!" Urkio snapped at him without dropping a single book. Long could only sigh again. He knew the girl's words were true, but he couldn't have her disrupting the library like this. That's when the answer to his problem conveniently walked through the door.

"Hey Long." It was Shina, still a little sweaty from her last class of the day. "You got any books on yoga? A lot of my students are too tense, so I'm thinking about adding some yoga to get them to loosen up ya know." That's when she spotted Uriko juggling books. "Oh, hey there Uriko what are you doing here?"

"Hi Shina! How was your date with Shenlong?" Uriko beemed. Now she could distract herself with someone more interesting than her teacher.

"D-did she say date?" Long stuttered. Both of the girls looked at him curiously. Normally Long's speech was flawless with no slang, filler words and definitely no stuttering.

"Actually Uriko, I don't think I would call it a date…" She started with a nervous smile. Long was reassured for a moment, worried that he was going to lose Shina to his clone as well. "We justwent to a show, then spent the night out on his boat with went swimming." She said with a guilty laugh and a nervouse grin as the young girls face lit up.

"Oh my gosh that is most DEFINITELY A DATE!" Uriko squealed, but was quickly shushed by people in the library. Long however was not as excited about Shina's staying the night with Shenlong. He had to act fast and that was something he normally avoided.

"Shina would you like to go out with me to a late lunch?" Long said quickly and sternly. He snappe his body to attention and looked her in the eyes. Shina was taken back a little at the sudden request.

"U-um s-sure… but what about my books…" She was cut off as Long quickly wrapped her arm in his and swiftly left the building with Uriko in hot pursuit.

"Master Long I'm coming too! I want her to tell me all the juicy details!" Uriko bounded out the door as everyone in the building let out a relaxed sigh. Relieved that the obnoxious girl was finally gone. Within minutes the trio were walking into the city. Long and Shina still had their arms intertwined, but both wore uncomfortable expressions, unsure of what to do or say next. Luckily for them an enthusiastice Uriko was full of interesting questions.

"So Shina. What did you and my brother do after we left?" She asked excitedly. Maybe it wasn't so lucky that she had questions afterall. Long remained silent, also curious at what the two could have done all night out on the water. Usually the two could be around one another for more than an hour without fighting, so it was anyones guess as to what could have transpired over the course of an entire night.

"Oh nothing really, we took in a show, and he wanted to take me out on the boat to see the stars and stuff." She said nonchalantly trying to make it sound completely innocent. But it's hard to make a show and a night under the stars sound like anything other than a date. She could feel Long's muscles tense as she explained her night, and Uriko's grin was growing bigger and bigger by the second.

"That's so romantic! A movie and a night under the stars…" She clapped her hands together and began to envision how nice it must have been. "What did you guys go see? Something romantic I bet!" She grabbed Shina's freehandd and shook it eagerly for a response.

"It was more of a… an action flick to be honest." She forced a small smile on her face, and a bead of sweat dropped as she prayed that it was convincing enough. Uriko looked at her with a raised eyebrow. An action movie didn't fit into the romantic scenario she had been envisioning."I don't really like the mushy stuff anyway…" Shina added to douse the girl's susspisions.

"Of course!" Uriko slammed a fist into her palm. "You're totally awesome! Of course you wouldn't be into girly movies and stuff. Shenlong really knows how to charm the ladies." She finished with a snide smirk.

"Ummm… yea, I guess he does." Shina said nervously. Suddenly, Long stepped ahead of them and clapped his hands together.

"Shina perhaps I could come assist you in your classes. I'm sure your students would benefit from seeing your training put into practice against someone else with fighting experience." He finished with a kind smile trying to hide his boiling emotions, but his twitching eyebrow threatened to betray him. Shina and Uriko stared at him for a moment and simply blinked a few times trying to catch up with the suddenly changed topic.

"Y-yea, that would be great. You sure it would be all right? After all you do work at the library." Shina pointed out with a shy smile. But Long didn't fold.

"I'm actually planning to take the summer off to focus on my training out in the country side away from the noise of the city. A few days early shouldn't matter much." Now Long wore a genuine smile, proud they he didn't have to make something up to spend time with her.

"Well if it wont get in the way… sure I'll check the scheduleand let you know when my advanced classes come in." She laughed lightly while brushing her hair back. Long's smile deepened and he finally put his hands back at his side. Uriko stood tapping her foot waiting for them to continue on.

"Master Long where are you taking us anyway?" She inturuted their thoughts with the suddent outburst.

"The coffee-shop just a few more blocks up. Don't worry Uriko, we're almost there." Long said kindly. The rest of the walk there was filled with girl talk between Shina and Uriko, attempted small talk from Long and Uriko venting her frustrations about her home life. However they reached the place before she could tell them Yugo and Kenji would be gone for a few weeks on the boxing tournament. They all ordered their drinks, and Uriko got herself a muffin. Long and Shina were discussing ways he could help her out while Uriko stared out of the window watching people pass by. That's when she spotted Gado and Shenlong in the BBQ place across the street. She looked to see if Long or Shina had noticed them, but to her delight they were both caught up in their own conversation. The wheels were starting to spin in her head. She could escape Long, avoid her family and spend some time with Shenlong, all with some clever wording and a little white lie.

"Master Long, I just saw Alice and Yugo go into the resturaunt across the street. Can I leave and go with them?" She pointed to the BBQ resturaunt careful not to draw attention to her real targets. Long practiacally threw her out of the booth when he heard her question.

"Yes! Uriko, that would be excellent. You and your sister have much to discus if this summer is going to go by smoothly for you, and with Yugo there I'm sure things wont get out of hand. Well you have a good afternoon and I hope to see you before I leave for my training. If you wish to come train with me, we can speak with your mother on the subject. If not, I will return in two months." Long said in a hurried tone as he escorted Uriko out of the building.

"Bye Shina, I'm sure I'll see you later and you can finish telling me about your date!" the young girl waved back with a wink, before bounding across the street. Long watched to make sure she made it across safely, before happily returning to Shina.

"You sure it's ok to let her out of your sight? Mitsuko was still pretty angry this morning when Shenlong brought his boat back to the docks." Shina said nervously, remembering the beating Shenlong received that very morning.

"I'm sure Mitsuko would have it no other way. If Alice is with Yugo, then there are two people she trusts watching over Uriko rather than just me. Not to mention if Yugo is there, Kenji isn't far away." He paused to push his glasses up on his nose with a finger. "Yes, I'm convinced that right now, Uriko is in the safest place in the city." He finished with a confident smile. Shina simply smiled back at him and continued her drink. Long's smile shifted to a more concerned frown.

"Shina, may I ask you something?" He spoke evenly, doing his best not give away his shaking nerves. Shina looked up to him and set aside her drink.

"Sure thing Long, whats on your mind?" He sighed in attempt to compose his words, but in the end he chose to take a simple approach to his question.

"What all DID you do with Shenlong after the others left yesterday?" He asked calmly and smoothly trying not to sound defensive or incriminating. She almost scowled at the question, but when she saw the genuine concern in his eyes, she returned to thinking about how to answer the question without upsetting him.

"Why do you ask?" She attempted to buy herself some time to think.

"I can't help but be curious, that's all. In the past, you and he couldn't be within 50 ft. of oneanother for long without fighting." He said with a light chuckle as he returned to his seat.

"Oh come on it wasn't that bad."She said resting aher chin on a hand.

"Before yesterday, an hour was the record for both of you to tolerate eachother." He said with a smirk. Shina blushed slightly embarrassed that they had really acted out so noticeably.

"Well if you must know." She said with a sarcastic roll of the eyes. "After we left the diner, we went to a fight club." She said nervously worried about how Long would react.

"A fight club…?" He said with a raised eyebrow and gave a confident smirk.

"Well yea… Some of the cities zoanthrope get together to throw down with one another. It was actually pretty fun." She finished with a smile looking at nothing imparticular.

"Not exactly my idea of fun… But I suppose Someone like Shenlong would love that sort of thing." He said smugly making Shina frown. "What were the fighters like?"

"Well believe it or not, there were soe VERY skilled fighters there. I happened to fight a pair foxes at once that had a bad habit of ripping off my cloths." She said seductively almost causing Long to choke on his tea. "Then me and Shenlong tag-teamed against a Cheetah and her Jaguar boyfriend. Now those two had some real skill." Shina found herself smiling at how hard Scarlette pushed her in their fight.

"You sound like you really did have a good time in there. And this cheetah must have been formidable to get you excited about the fight." He said almost shocked at the grin she flashed as she spoke about something as barbaric as animal fighting.

"Yea, well its good to let lose from time to time ya know." She gave a light laugh.

"After that, there was a boat ride under the stars?" Long was taken back at this little tid bit of information.

"Yea, that was really nice too. The water was calm and we spent some time somehanging out, enjoying the moon light. Afterwards…" She had to stop to laugh to herself. "You won't believe this, but we actually danced to some radio jazz music." She finished with a laugh.

"Really? Shenlong danced?" Had anyone other than Shina told him this, he wouldn't have believe it.

"Yea, turns out he's a great fighter and a pretty good dancer." She said in slight diebeliefe herself, but nodded faceing back to Long.

"This morning I had the pleasure if waking up to a giant blue tiger diving off the boat to catch some big fish for breakfast." She said with a playful sigh and rolling her eyes.

"Sushi for breakfast?" That doesn't sound like him at all." Long said skepticaly. Even he didn't have sushi for breakfast and despite being his clone, Shenlong was much less tradisional than Long.

"You're right." She giggled. "He actually grilled it, and made an amazing breakfast for both of us." She said licking her lips. Long struggled not to furrow his brow and show his jealousy at the wounderful time Shina had with the clone last night. What made it worst was that he ended their little date by starting her day off with a great breakfast. Since when can Shenlong cook at all? Much less make wonderful meals for others.

"Well you sertainly did have a pleasant date." Long said, taking a sip of his tea to hide his expression.

"Yea, well it ended with him getting his face knocked in by Mitsuko." Shina had to hold back a laugh. "That lady should have been in the fight club with the beating she gave him for getting close to Uriko and hurting Alice." Shina held her sides remembering the thrashing that went down. This time Long laughed as well and the pair simply chuckled together at Shenlong's misfortune. Across the street Uriko was extatic to be back around Shenlong. He was happy she was there too, but Gado was skeptical of them being around eachother so soon. Especially since they both had suffered Mitsuko's wrath not even a full day ago.

"Hey kiddo what are you doing here?" Shenlong asked as Uriko climbed down off his shoulders. She had nearly tackled him by jumping over the back of the booth seat and landing on his head.

"I told Master Long I saw my sister come in here so he let me go." She beamed sitting down next to him as he slid what remained of their appetizer over to her. She happily chowed down on the boneless hot wings as Shenlong and Gado shared uneasy glances.

"What if Alice really does come looking for you?" Gado asked, seemingly throwing a wrench in her plan. But Uriko thought of that too.

"I called my mom before I came in." She said after swallowing some food. I told her Kenji invited me to go with him and Yugo to a national boxing tournament with them in Chicago for a while. WHICH I might add is 100% true. I just didn't tell her I didn't go with them." She gave a devilish smile. Gado palmed his head, but Shenlong patted her head proudly, impressed that she was clever enough to cover her bases.

"Now to finish the job." She said breaking out her phone again. She quickly dialed her teacher's number and waited for him to answer.

"Hey, Master Long. Kenji invited me to go with him and Yugo to Chicago for a boxing tournament, so I'll be M.I.A. for a while…. Ok, enjoy your training. See you when you get back." She hung up the phone and smiled to herself for having thought of such a great plan.

"Consider all bases covered. Alice will talk to my mom who will confirm that I informed Master Long, and when the stories match up, everyone will be happy and I can actually enjoy my summer." She said reclining in her seat with a satisfied look on her face.

"Well not quite all of them kid." Gado said peaking over his glasses. "Now you have to find a place to stay, and avoid your mom and sister for a while. And don't forget Alice is dating your boyfriend's brother. She's probably going to call him as soon as she gets the chance." Gado's words sent a shiver up Uriko's spine. Kenji doesn't enjoy lying, but would make an effort for Uriko's happiness. But at the same time Yugo was just as devoted to Alice. If she put him on the spot, he would break, and Uriko knew it. In a matter of seconds, Uriko had called Kenji and prayed that Alice had gotten the chance to call him yet.

"Hello… KENJI! QUICK! I need you to tell Yugo that no matter what; if anyone asks I'm spending time with you in Chicago while he fights. Yes, I know that you guys don't like to lie, but if I go home I might kill myself! And if my mom finds out, she'll take care of that for me! Please Kenji, I will pay you both back for this, I swear! But I need you to cover me. PLEASE!" She begged through the phone. Fortunately for her Yugo was right there with him and heard the whole thing. He agreed after he remembered how Alice hurt Uriko's legs the previous evening.

"Really? OHMYGAWD YOU TWO ARE THE BEST!... Uh huh… no problem I can take care of that tonight… Yep still have the key. Okay, thank you both SOOO much. Call me when you guys get there. Good Luck Yugo!" She clacked the phone shut and smiled bigger than before.

"What just happened?" Shenlong asked.

"Yugo and Kenji agreed to cover for me incase anyone called. Yugo said it would be his way of punishing Alice for going overboard yesterday and bruising up my legs." She continued to grin with excitement. "All I have to do is clean their place up a little bit and I will be home free." She grinned and danced a little in her seat. Gado sighed again, knowing this would end badly for sure. Shenlong was quite the opposite however.

"This kid is awesome!" He grinned at Gado. "I know, I know I shouldn't condone lying to people who care about you… But your mom damn near broke my jaw this morning, so it evens out." He gave a grin. "I couldn't have pulled that off better myself little sister." He gave her a high five in praise.

"Never underestimate how far a woman will go to get her space." She folded her arms and said proudly. "So when will you start my training?" She asked excitedly

"This is a bad idea Stripes." Gado said standing up from the table. "Look I gotta go, but just remember that pain in your jaw before you jump into this." He walked out of the side entrance to his truck and drove off into the evening sun. Now it was just Shenlong and his new sister, and he hadn't exactly planned for this.

"Did'nt I tell you I would think about it? … hmm" He said rubbing his chin trying to think of all possible ups and downs to this. Then an idea popped into his head. "The mountain! Of course." He looked at her with a faint smile and nodded thinking his plan was fool proof. "I'll tell you what sis, I've got a few things to take care of this week then I'm going up to a little place in the mountains train for a while. But I guess a week of palling around with my new sister wouldn't be so bad." He finished with a sarcastic smirk. Uriko stuck her tongue at him, and then hugged his neck tightly.

"Thanks Shenlong, this is going to be so much fun!" She giggled as he struggled to breath. "Come on! It's getting late." She tugged him out of the booth.

"Ok, ok, where are we going?" He asked struggling not to let the small girl pull him to the ground.

"If you help me clean up Yugo's place, it wont get in the way later. Plus… I can be a little forgetful sometimes." She rubbed her head slightly embarrassed. Shenlong let out a playful sigh and patted her on the head.

"Alright, I'll help…" He paused to check the time. "But only for a little bit. I've got somewhere to be in a little while." He finished looking off into the city with a serious expression.

"Cool, where're we going?" She smiled. Shenlong looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"We?" He clarified. "Sorry kiddo, I'll train you, but the pit aint exactly the kind of place a little girl should be hanging around." He shrugged his shoulders. Uriko pouted and folded her arms.

"Hey I'm not just some little girl ya know." She transformed the ends of her fingers and flexed her claws. "Besides I'm starting highschool in the fall. So I'm sure I can handle anything you can." She stuck her tongue at him again. But while she did that Shenlong quickly snapped behind her and hoisted her over his shoulder and started walking down the sidewalk.

"You sure about that Uriko? I don't think you even saw me move." He said with a laugh.

"No fair! See, this is why you have to train me? I need to be ready for anything. Especially with you around!" She mocked.

"Yea right, don't worry kid. As long as I'm around you've got nothing to worry about." He thumbed his chest. Uriko playfully rolled her eyes.

"I feel so safe!" She giggled.

"So have you figured out where you're going to stay while you're hiding from your family?" He asked looking up at her out of the corner of his eye. Uriko blushed a little and made her cute face again.

"Well, I've been meaning to talk to you about that…" She said rubbing her head. Shenlong's smile dropped and he looked more concerned. "How would you like to win some major brother points?"

"Geeze is this kid ever away from those two?" Hung gripped from a rooftop nearby. He and Xie had been following Shina all day. When they spotted Uriko, they decided to keep an eye on her instead.

"Patients brother. We will have out revenge soon enough. All that's left to do is wait for the right moment to strike. If we get that girl, we will have everything we came for."Xie practically hissed with anticipation.

Back on the outskirts of the city Mitsuko was tuning in Alice on why her sister wasn't home yet and the city was still standing.

"Calm down. She's with Yugo and his brother for a while. At least she will have some time to calm down and more importantly, stay away from that horrible man!" Mitshko practically snorted thinking about Shenlong.

"Yea I know, but I just wish she had waited for me to come too. We could have had some real sibling bonding time together." Alice said disappointed she had been left out.

"Well dear she said the tournemant was in Chicago so they couldn't wait very long, you know that. Especially with how busy the hospital gets this time of year. Every summer when school lets out, the dilinquents run rampant and end up in hospitols begging for someone to kiss their boo boos." Mitsuko mocked playfully. Alice sighed, becase she knew her mom was completely right. It would only be a matter of time before she would be getting late night pages to come to work and be asked to stay as long as possible.

"But still…" Alice started again, but was shushed byher mother.

"Now enough of that. The house will have some piece without your sister here to complain. I don't want you taking her place in that field. Besides, I'm sure it wont be more than a few days before she's begging to come back home to her family where she belongs." She grinned. "She will remember how lucky she is in no time to have us at her side. You just wait and see." Mitsuko returned to drying the dishes and putting them away.

Across the city, Shenlong and Uriko finished cleaning the house. Now Shenlong just needed a way to ditch Uriko for the rest of the night, but she had no plans to make that easy for him.

"I told you I'm not tired! Come on Shenlong, why can't I just go with you to the pit? I want to see you fight." She said in a sad tone, trying to guilt him into bringing her along.

"Nope." He said flatly. Her plan didn't work. The young girl pouted at her failed attempt at cuteness.

"Awww you jerk! Seriously, how much danger could I be in if I'm there with you?" She retorted. Shenlong sighed and scratched his head trying to think of a way to make her understand.

"While you're with me, you will be safe. But when I fight, I wont be able to protect you. Don't you get it? There is always someone looking to gain an upper hand in there. If someone gets the bright idea to use you against me…"

"I'll kick their ass!" Uriko interrupted with a confident shout.

"I doubt that." He rolled his eyes. Then a light went off in his head. "Fine. Since I can't seem to convince you to stay behind, I'll take you. But first I gotta get some stuff from my place, so lets go." He said slyly and turned to walk home. Uriko beamed in victory, and jumped on Shenlong's shoulders. 20 minutes later, they were walking down the street his building was on. However, they were on the wrong side of the street. Uriko was so proud, that she didn't even notice that Shenlong had to knock on what should have been his own door. A booming voice brought her back to reality.


	9. Chapter 9

"Stripes, what are you doing here? I see you still got the cub hanging around your neck." Uriko looked at Gado confused.

"Shen what's going on?" She asked hesitantly before Shenlong was let into the room.

"Oh nothing just had to talk to Gado first. Hey, you go wait on the couch with Jenny for a minute and I'll call you when its time to go." He said with a smile leading Gado out to the balcony.

"Ummm, ok." She said sitting next to the scandily clad blonde woman.

"I can't belive you fell for that one darling." Jenny said with a sarcastic smile.

"What are you talking about?" She looked to the older woman naivly, as Gado came back into the room… alone.

"Looks like you're stuck here for the night cub." Gado said rubbing his eyelids. "Stripes doesn't think it would be safe for you to go to the pit just yet so he asked me to watch you until he comes back." He looked up to see Uriko run over to the balcony and start screaming into the night sky.

"YOU JACK-ASS! I TOLD YOU I COULD HANDLE IT!" She shrieked in frustration. Gado came and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey calm down kiddo. You know your brother's just looking out for you. Besides a couple thugs from China have be sturring up a bit of trouble around the city so it's probably best that you stay with us for now." He turned and walked back toward the kitchen. "So are you hungry or anything?" He asked opening the fridge, but before he could turn to get his response a flash of light and a feril 'MEOW' came from where he left the girl. "Dammit! Maybe she really was Stripes' sister in a past life, she's just as stubborn as he is!" he rubbed his head. Uriko had transformed and taken to the roof following Shenlong's fresh scent.

"Guess she just would take no for an answer." Jenny said coming to stand next to her burly mate. "So what do you want to do? We can't just leave her out there by herself. Shenlong's much too fast for her and she'll lose his trale in no time." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. Gado growled under his breath. His daghter and Shenlong were enough of a headache. A crazy kitten thrown into the mix was more than he cared to deal with.

"You go high and keep an eye on the cub. I'll head over to the pit and meet you guys there. Something tells me that girl would follow him to the edge of the earth to prove herself." He finshed before walking over to the fire escape, and leaping down to the ground below. Jenny transformed and took flight into the night sky following the sound of Uriko's heavy breathing and claws scraping against the concrete building tops.

"I know you're trying to protect me like a good brother should, but Shenlong you have no idea what I'm capable of." Uriko said to herself leaping from one building to another. After a few more buildings, she had lost the trail and wasn't sure which way to go. Unbeknownst to her, she was being followed by someone, and he was closing in fast. Certain that she was on her own, Xie silently made his way toward Uriko. He leaped over an alleyway, but half way across Jenny swooped in grabbing him in her talons. In a swift move, she flipped and sent him streaking to the ground below. Uriko turned around to see Jenny recover from the technique, but completely missed the assassin coming for her.

"Ms. Jenny, what are you doing here?" She asked nervously. "I'm not going back if that was your plan." She said assertively before extending her claws and lowering into a fighting stance.

"Calm down kitten. I'm not here to take you back. Actually I think you're more than grown up enough to handle yourself." Jenny said smoothly. "So if you really want to go, hold your hands up and brace yourself." Jenny said before taking off high into the sky.

"What like this?" Uriko said to herself holding her hands high above her head. "Now whaaaaaaaaa AHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed. Jenny had swooped down at speed and grabbed the cat's claws in her own and taking off into the sky again.

"Calm down kid! With my speed, he won't get there very far ahead of us." She laughed loudly and flapped toward the pit.

"Shenlong, I was starting to wonder if you were comeing tonight." Scarlette said in a flirtatios tone. Javier growled to himself lightly, but was conforted by Scarlette's hand on his cheek.

"Good to see both of you as well. Javier, have there been any promising fighters tonight?" Shenlong asked while taking a seat beside Scarlette across from Javier.

"The warm weather lately has brought out quite a few reptile zoanthrope. You missed a visious battle between a Diamond back and a Copperhead. It was quite the interesting dance." She finished with a purr in Javier's ear.

"Si, those rattles came in handy for him. Pero no olvidemos the Iguana." Javier added. "He was quite the skilled fighter."

"Oh really? How skilled are we talking?" Shenlong asked slyly.

"He defeated the mongoose who took down a king cobra, who knocked out the diamond back we just told you about." Scarlette said smoothly. Shenlong was impressed by the tonight's events.

"Wow that's so cool!" A small voice called from just behind a crowd.

"What was that?" Scarlette asked raising an eyebrow. Javier growled at the unfamiliar voice and Shenlong could only palm his forehead knowing what was coming next.

"That would be… my kid sister…" He said almost embarrassed hoping to grab a drink before it was too late. But he wasn't so lucky. Just as he turned away, the small cat zoanthrope leaped from the crowd and landed smoothly on his shoulders.

"Você tem uma irmã?" Javier asked shocked. "You have a sister?" he made sure to clarify for those who didn't understand puertoguese.

"You didn't think you could just ditch me, did you?" She asked looking at Shenlong smugly.

"I told you it would be dangerous for you if I had to fight tonight!" She gripped back at her.

"Well, hello there little kitty." Scarlette said sweetly. "What might your name be?" She finished with an entrigued smile. She was loving every minute of this.

"Oh, excuse me. My name is Uriko; Shenlong's little sister." She said proudly.

"Well Uriko it is very nice to meet you. I'm Scarlette and this big cuddly guy is Javier." She said politely reaching her hand to greet the young girl. Javier gently shook her hand between a few of his large fingers. The two of them faught back fits of laughter as Shenlong burried his face in his palms.

"The pleasure is mine." She smiled brightly. "Shenlong I thought you said this place was dangerous! Your friends here are so nice." She grinned.

"How the hell did you even get here? I thought I told Gado to watch you." He asked annoyed.

"I am watching her Stripes." Gado finally managed to fight his way through the crowd with Jenny close behind him. "She's your sister. You should have known something like this would happen."

"You can thank Jenny for bringing me here so fast. I almost lost you, but Uriko never gives up!" The young girl proclaimed triumphantly.

"Ah, Scarlette. It's been a while old friend. I see you still look as fierce as ever." Jenny complimented while giving the cheetah a hug and a peck on the cheek.

"The same could be said for you blondey. The whole never ageing thing really works wonders doesn't it?" Scarlette returned with a giggle.

"Well it looks like this place is really the cat's meow." Jenny punned noting the collection of felines she was with. A lion, tiger, cheetah, jaguar and a house cat made for an interesting pride indeed.

"Haha, very funny Jenn." Shenlong moaned still annoyed. "Seriously, Uriko. Who is going to watch you if someone challenges me?" He asked obviously concerned. Uriko simply looked over her shoulder at the collection of strong fighters behind her, and then back to Shenlong.

"Umm, how about these guys?" she said in a very 'duh' tone.

"It's not fair to ask Gado and Jenny to stay here just for you." He said qwickly hoping they would back him up.

"Actually Stripes, it's been a while since I've been to one of these. Who knows, I might get in there myself." Gado answered in a mocking tone.

"And you know I always enjoy a good party." Jenny added.

"Really Shenlong, you hurt our feeling with that little statement." Scarlette laughed. "If nothing else, you know Javier and I would gladly watch over your sister. No one would harm a hair on her head under our watch. Isnt the right sweetheart." She motioned to Javier, who reached out and patted Uriko on the head.

"Parece bom garoto. She's a nice kid." Javier added kindly.

"Aww you all are sweet." Uriko clapped her hands together and gave them all a sweet childish grin. "So it's decided. I'll come watch you fight as long as someone is willing watch over me while you fight. And afterward, you can train me." She finished in the same sweet tone, leaving no room for argument. Shenlong started to argue, but after everyones response, he knew it was pointless by now.

"Fine, do whatever you want." He waved them off. "I think I need to test some of these living belts out for my self." He said before leaping from his seat into the pit. "Who wants a piece of the king?" He roared into the crowd. There was an uproar of applause from the crowd as a few strong looking men stepped forward. The announcer took the mic and began hypeing the crowd even more.

"Looks like things just got interesting around here! So who's up first?" The announcer asked excitedly.

"NO!" Shenlong roared over the announcer and the crowed went silent. "I'll take you all on!" He shouted and transformed. Nine large muscular men jumped down into the ring, all of them transformed as they hit the grownd. The place was looking more and more like a zoo by the second. A bison, alligator, hyena, and a couple others all beared their fangs and claws at Shenlong who grinned and licked his chops.

"Hold on Stripes!" Gado called from above the pit. He and Javier leaped down to Shenlong's side.

"Amigo. You didn't think you could have all the fun did you?" Javier grinned before he and Gado transformed. Shenlong looked to both of them then back up at their seats.

"YOU GOT THIS COVERED BROTHER! SKIN THOSE LOSERS!" Uriko shouted from above with Scarlette and Jenny waving playfully by her side.

He smiled a toothy grin, then looked over to his comrades. They nodded at one another, and the battle was on. Literally, the night roared on as body after body was thrown from the pit. There were no casualties tonight, but some serious limps to be walked off. There were a couple more fights that night, even Uriko got in the ring with some pretty strong humans, but everyone agreed that she was far to inexperienced to go up against another zoanthrope. At the end of the night, the cats went there separate ways, with Shenlong, Uriko, Gado and Jenny riding back to the condos. Shenlong had been planning on tuning one of the bed rooms into a weight room, but with Uriko needing a place to stay, that would have to be put on hold. With the help of an air mattress some lamps and a bed spread, the end result was a decent looking bedroom for a young girl. She spent the next couple hours talking to Kenji about her day before finally falling asleep.

The next week consisted mostly of the same routine. Durring the day, Shenlong and her would practice what she already knew and exercise with her in the park or gym. They made absolutely sure to avoid Alice and Mitsuko at all costs. Xie and Hung kept their distance, but were always watching. Whenever Shenlong had to work she would pass time with Jenny and Gado. There were even a few occasions when Scarlette and Javier were asked to help out. At night, they would go to the pit so she could observe the fights and pick up a few tips. Uriko became quite popular among Shenlong's little group and even made cookies for them once. Saturday evening was when Shenlong planned for them to go into the mountain to contune her training, unfortunately for them, that plan would have to be put on hold. One of the people Uriko beat ended up getting sent to the hospitol where Alice works. While she treated his wounds, he talked on and on about a young gir with a braded ponytail who could transform into a cat. That was all the description Alice needed to inform her mother and the two of them to start snooping around the city. It was Friday afternoon, and Shenlong took Uriko for an early dinner at one of her favorite places before they got packed for their trip.

"Thanks a ton Shenlong. This week has been so much fun! I can't wait to do some real training with you, I bet it will be great." She hadn't been this happy in ages. There were no worries, and she was getting some real training. Shenlong really understood her more than Alice or her mom ever had. With him, it wasn't like she was being pampered and caudled every minute. Instead he was helping her when she needed him, but still giving her the room to be her own person.

"Yea kiddo, I've had lots of fun too. Don't think once we get to the mountain everything will be easy though. I'm going to teach you to do more than just fight. You're going to learn how to survive up there. Do you think you can handle that?" He said with a smirk

"Don't you know by now, I can handle anything you throw at me." She said with a wink and a thumbs up. The clouds overhead rumbled and rain started to fall, so they hurried down the street. Suddenly a station wagond screeched to a hault beside them and two people burst from the car.

"Oh shit." Both of them said at the same time.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER YOU MONSTER!" Mistuko shrieked as Alice ran over and grabbed her.

"Alice not this again! Wait, no stop!" Uriko protested as her sister lifted her off the ground and ran back to the car.

"How dare you take my daughter and force her to fight thugs in the street! I don't know what is wrong with you, but I swear you will NEVER come near my little girl again!" Mitsuko punched Shenlong in the jaw before getting back in the car and speeding away. Shenlong got up and started to follow them, but decided it would be better if he didn't. He started to walked through the city considering weather he should continue as planned and go into the mountain without Uriko or if he should wait. The truth was, he wanted Uriko to come with him. The chance to mentor the little sister he always wanted was a wonderful idea. However, the fact that she wasn't really his sister and that she had her own family to spend time wit was like a smack back to reality for him. Now he had to choose weather to accept that or to fight for her. The choice wasn't very hard really, but it was made much easier when the sound of rushed flapping wings were heard in the distance.

"Shenlong! Come quickly! There was a car wreck, and Uriko was taken!" Jenny shouted franticly barely a second after taking her human form. Shenlong's eyes went wide and his soul sank.

"TAKE ME THERE NOW!" He roared taking his tiger form and sprinting back to where Uriko and her family left him. Jenny transformed and took off high into the sky, once they reached the spot Shenlong was headed, she took the lead. They moved as fast as they could, and Jenny finally stopped to circle over a smoking vehicle before landing.

"What happened here?" He asked hastily as he helped Mitsuko from the wreck. Alice's door had been ripped off and she had fallen onto the street. She was knocked out, but otherwise fine. Mitsuko on the other hand was bleeding from her head, had a broken arm and a broken leg along with a couple bruses.

"This… this is all your fault!..." She said in a raspy tone. "He said… they were waiting for you… for you to leave her side… They want you. '**Cough, cough'** Why did they have to take my baby girl?" She forced out with hatred and sadness in her eyes. Jenny had been on the phone talking to Gado and Scarlette telling them what was going on. Both of them were on the way, and it would only take them a short while to get there. Shenlong sniffed the wet night air rampantly trying to get a scent. He propped Mitsuko against a bulding away from the car and started to retrieve Alice as well. When he got to her side of the car, he saw the claw marks in the side panel. There was still some hair in the gash from the attacker; when he picked up the scent of bear, he knew exactly what had happened. He was snapped out of his thoughts, as the engine compartment suddenly caught on fire and the vehicle was engulfed in flame. He wuickly moved Alice and her mother further away before the gas tank ignighted as well. He had just gotten around a corner when the whole thing went up in an explosion. As the massive fireball rippled into the air, a large truck and a red sports car skidded to a hault a few yards away. Shina was riding with Gado and jumped out of the truck as quickly as she could. From the sports car came Scarlette and Javier. They all rushed to get Mitsuko and Alice to safety as sirens and lights could be heard wailing in the distance.

"Stripes! How did this happen?" Gado asked angrily.

"I don't know for sure! These two showed up out of nowhere and took Uriko. Next thing I know, Jenny is leading me back here and telling me about the accident, and that Uriko was taken." He said almost desperately.

"A menina? The girl?" Javier clarified.

"Taken by who?" Shina asked before thinking to herself. "Shenlong… you don't think… those two from the subway…" She said shakily.

"What?" Gado wipped his head to his daughter.

"The guys I told you about! The ones that were trying to get into the pit!" She said almost furiously.

"I WILL KILL THOSE BASTARDS!" Shenlong roared. That's when Long rushed onto the scene. Shina had called him on the way over and he ran there as fast as he could.

"Alice… Mitsuko… Shenlong what happened?" He asked joining the other in panic.

"It was an ambush." Scarlette spoke up as calmly as she could. But that calmness faded as she tried to finish explaining. "A couple low lives were waiting for Uriko to leave Shenlong's side and when she did, they took her." She finished biting her lower lip.

"What? Why?" He asked loudly.

"They want me and Shenlong. We kicked their asses and now they must be out for revenge!" Shina said through gritted teeth.

"But why Uriko?" Gado asked.

"They may have been following you since the alley incident." Jenny said nervously. "Gado the first nigh Shenlong tried to leave her with us, one of them tried to attack her on the roof. I took him out quickly and we went to the pit, but I don't know how long he has been watching her."

"What are we dealing with exactly?" Scarllette asked trying to restrain her outrage.

"A godamn bug and a bush pig!" Shenlong shouted to her.

"Two zoanthropes." Jenny clarified. "A thin guy, he's a scorpion and his partner is a bear. One is skilled and the other is strong, but I never thought they would be capable of something like this." She finished regretfully.

"You knew..." Shenlong glared at her."They came for her before? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" He roared stomping towards her. Gado and Javier managed to catch him before he could reach her, but he was furious. "Why didn't you say anything? I would have gotten her out of the city long before any of this could happen!" He shouted. Jenny was at a loss for words.

"We all under estimated them and now look what happened!" Shina shouted at Shenlong. Everyone at this point was full of dispair. But they all had to turn their attention to the fire crew that had arrived to douse the flaming car. Long waved down an E.M.T. to come get Mitsuko and Alice. After the truck left, everyone decided to go to Long's place to escape the rain and figure out their next course of action. Well… almost everyone. Shenlong transformed and took off into the city. The rain had washed away all traces of the assailants, but he didn't care. He wanted to search for her and would not stop until he found her and made sure the two who took her payed dearly for this.

He raced intot he stormy night over buildings searching the streets for any sign of his precious sister, but there was nothing. Between the grids of city streets, criss crossing subway stations and endless number of people outside at any given moment, it was impossible for Shenlong to track them. He stood atop a hotel building staring down into the city lights threw the rain. There was no sign of them. He had failed her… again. Shenlong let out a painful roar that rang through the night air like thunder.

"How could I let this happen?" He cursed himself through gritted teeth. He fell to his knees and pounded the roof of the building. "She was counting on me. She was safe at my side! Why did I let her go? STUPID!"

"Shenlong we will find her." Long said, arriving with the others after hearing his roar. "I promise you, we will get her back."

"This never should have happened! It's my fault!" He said between sobs with tears welling. The rain would have hid them, but the reddening of his eyes betrayed him.

"No Stripes. You're not to blame for this. A child should be safest with her mother. Any of us would have done the same." Gado said stepping beside Shenlong and placing a hand on his shoulder. Shenlong looked up at him and saw the seriousness in his face. He looked to the others around him; Javier, Scarlette, Shina, and Jenny all nodded as well.

"Come on Stripes. Lets get those clowns." Shina said slamming her fist into her palm and cracking her knuckles. Shenlong stood to his feet and whipped his face. He had gotten his nerve back and was ready to protect his baby sister.

"Thank you. All of you for helping me when I need you there the most." He said greatfully.

"So whats the plan sugar?" Scralette asked confudently. And right then, Shenlong had formulated a plan.

"Shina we know they were after us, so they will be looking for us soon." He said confidently. "If they want to fight in the pit so bad, I say we bring the pit to them." He finished looking over to Scarlette and Javier. The smirked and gave a nod understanding what he had in mind. "Fine. First we get a few recruits." He said with a smirk. With that, they were all off to the docks. After explaining the situation to the fighters of the pit everyone rallied to help them.

First, they needed to have eyes all over the city. Every zoanthroap with wings took to the sky with Jenny. Small animal zoanthrope moved through the underground. Every back alley, subway and street corner had someone patrolling it. Aquatic and amphibious zoanthrope took to the water and sewer systems. Human fighters were on every bus and at every stop in the city. Gado used his connections to close every international transport leaving the city while Long stayed with Mitsuko and Alice in the hospitol. Shenlong and Shina simply walked the streets making themselves as noticeable as possible wating for a sign.

"This is taking too long!" Shenlong griped as thought of what could be happening to Uriko rushed through his head.

"Calm down Shenlong. This was your plan remember. We have eyes all over the city, and they wont be able to leave for at least a few days. We WILL find her." Shina reassured him and kissed his cheek. The notion calmed him a little, but he couldn't help but worry. Over at the hospitol, Alice was waking up with Long at her bedside.

"Long! What happened? Where are we? Where's Uriko?" Alice asked frantically but groggily still under the effects of the painkillers the doctors gave her while she slept. Long calmed her down so he could explain the situation.

"Alice I need you to remain calm and understand that everything is being taken care of as we speak." He waited for her to acknowledge this before continuing. She nodded and listened intently.

"Good. First, you and your mother are in the hospitol where you work. Two men from China who have been persuing Uriko attacked you. They destroyed your car and took her." He said solumly. The last part of his explanation had Alice struggling against her casts. Only when the sharp pain hit her did she realize that she had a broken leg, arm and clavical as well as some serious bruising over most of her body. She looked over to see her mother was in even worst shape than she was.

"Shenlong!" she cursed his name as she processed everything in her mind. "All of this started because of him."

"Well… yes. They went after your sister as a way to get to Shenlong and Shina. Ironically though, he was all that kept them from attacking her sooner." He finished attempting to redirect her thoughts and shift he blame.

"That's a lie!" She forced out as loud as she could manage. If she had gone to Chicago with Yugo and Kenji they would have never gotten to her. Or better yet, if she never met Shenlong, she wouldn't be involved at all!" Long couldn't deny the truth in her words, however that didn't matter now. What did matter was how they were going to get Uriko back.

"I suppose you're right. As it stands, Gado my self and some others are scouring the city looking for her. Do not worry yourself, I promise on my honor we will get her back safely and unharmed." He stood and gave a bow. Alice smiled lightly and nodded to him before allowing herselft to relax. Long started to leave the room before pausing to hear Alice add, "As long as Shenlong is out of the picture, I know things will turn out fine." Long looked over his shoulder, but continued out he door without saying anything. There was no point in upsetting her as long as the goal was achieved.

"Excellent work Hung. Now that we've got the girl, the pit and soon the whole city's underground will be ours." Xie said while staring at Uriko's unconscious body sinisterly.

Uriko had been knocked out in the crash, and was now hog-tied and stuffed in a dark corner. A new hotel was going up in the cities tourist area and it made for an excellent hide out. Xie decided the buildings basement would be perfect since the lowest levels of the building were nearly complete and they could easily go undetected.

"I don't know what I want more. To hear this brat scream while I crush her bones or the look on those bastards faces when he sees what I've done." He said with a wicked grin as lightning crackled outside.

"Yes, they shall pay dearly for the humiliation they dealt us. The time of our conquest is near, my friend. I can feel it." He finished with a laugh. "By tomorrow, those fools will give us what we want if they ever want to see her alive again."

Uriko began to stur in the corner and hazily opened her eyes to see her captors staring down at her and laughing maniacly. She didn't have the strength to struggle against her bonds or even make a sound before slipping back into unconsciousness again. The rain and thunder continued o fall all through the night. Shenlong and Shina had do call off their hunt and regroup with the others. On their way back something caught Shenlong's eye. It was Uriko's jacket wrapped around a bus stop sign. Shenlong made a mad dash across the street and quickly retrieved it. He quickly smelled it and let out a feral growl. He frantically whipped his head back and forth looking for any sine of Xie or Hung as both of their scents were still on the damp cloth.

"Is it hers?" Shina asked as she finally caught up to him.

"Yea, and the scent of those freaks are all over it!" He growled in frustration. "I can't track them in this damn rain! Everything is getting washed out!" Shina searched the jacket for clues and found a note.

"Come on, let's get this to the others." She said showing him the note. He nodded and the two of them took off to Long's apartment.

"Have their been any new leads?" Long asked entering his apartment.

"None. Our scouts are still scanning the city, but the rain makes it impossible for anyone to pick up a scent trail." Gado said heavily.

"Even our eyes in the sky havn't picked up anythinhg. The storm is to dangerous for them to fly any higher." Jenny added; the bolts of lightning that lit the night sky emphasized her point. As a clap of thunder sounded, the door opened again as Shenlong entered holding the jacket and Shina came in holding the note.

"We're going to get her back… and I know how we're going to do it." Shenlong said gruffly. Everyone in the room stood and looked to Shenlong.

"Whats the plan Stripes?" Gado asked folding his arms.


	10. Chapter 10

"They want the pit. So I say we give it to them." He sneered devilishly.

"So how's it gunna go down?" Scarlette asked stepping forward.

"They want to arrange a meeting." Shina started. "They left a prepayed cell and a number in her pockets along with the note. They want us to call them with the location of the pit. And they want us to be there. In exchange they will bring Uriko." Shina said confidently.

"So get the word out. Have everyone ready to move when I give the word." Shenlong said to Javier, Scarlette and Jenny.

"Long, you and the old man go see her mother and get a boat schedule. When we do this I don't want them to have anywhere to run." He said with a scoul. Gado nodded to Long and he made his way back outside. Everyone left the room to play their parts leaving only Gado and Shenlong in the room. It was clear that Shenlong was still anxious inside. Gado crossed the room and put his heavy hand on Shenlong's shoulder.

"You alright Stripes?" He asked concernedly.

"I'll be alright when we have her back and those bastards get what they deserve…" He trailed off in a dark tone.

"Stripes, listen to me. We're going to do this, but don't go back to your old ways. Remember, you have someone looking up to you now… Or do you want Mitsuko to be right about you?" He said looking at him sternly.

"Hey, you know as well as I do if Mitsuko could get a hold of those two she would take them out herself!" Shenlong threw off Gado's hand and shouted to him.

"She's her mother!" Gado shouted back.

"What if it were Shina? Would you let them get away with it?" He asked accusingly.

"If I needed to get involved, they would already have been marked to die, you know that! Besides, Shina can handle herself and…" He was cut off.

"That's just it! Uriko's a child! Long has only trained her in the basics and these psycopaths have her!" Shenlong shouted out getting into Gado's face.

Gado looked him in the eye before letting out a sigh. "She's going to be alright Stripes. And don't underestimate her. She's picked up on a few tricks, believe it or not." He finished turning away from him and walking out into the rain. Shenlong gritted his teeth and stared at the ransom note and the jacket.

Within the hour every pit fighter in the city new the plan and were prepping themselves for what was to come. There may have only been two of them, but these guys have robed them of someone who's grown very close to all of them. Uriko had brought a new light into the pit, win or lose she made every fighter feel like a champ, like they were'nt just knuckle heads who could only be noticed if they were making a fist or bearing their fangs. These two fiends were threatening that fulfillment and that would not be tolerated.

"…A cargo ship arrived today? Excellent. I want thing unloaded by sundown. Shina will make the call when we're ready…. Good work…. It's not over yet but we will have them soon…. I'm on my way." **CLICK **

Shenlong set off for the docks where he and a handful of fighters took the strenuous task of unloading hundreds of container units through the stormy night. Around mid day the rain had not sceased and many of the fighters had reached exhaustion from being up all night working. Shenlong however was undaunted and with only a couple dozen containers still onboard, he and a few others set to strategicly and asteticly placing a the containers to make an arena and observation area. "Perfect." He said confidently after placing the final container. He called Shina and told her to make the call. Then called Jenny and Scarlette and had them relay orders to every one of the fighters before getting some rest himself. He wanted to be at full strength when everything started falling into place.

Shina dialed the number and waited for an answer.

"We've been waiting to hear from you Xie hissed threw the line. "Now give us the information we want or your little girl may not remain as comfortable as she is now." He finished sinisterly.

"Let me talk to the girl first or there's no deal." Shina said directly doing her best to remember her military hostage training.

"I assure you she is completely unharmed." Xie said snidely turning his head to face the tied girl in the corner.

"Then you won't have a problem with me confirming that with her. Let me talk to her NOW!" Shina ordered. Xie hesitated at first, but motioned for Hung to remove the cloth gagging her mouth and put the phone next to her face.

"Talk." He said threatening her.

"Hellow…" Uriko said threw gritted teeth glaring at Hung who had been picking at her since she woke up.

"Uriko are you alright? Have they hurt you at all?" Shina asked franticly.

"I'm alright, they have me tied up, but other than that I fine; which is more than I can say for them if I ever get out of these ropes." She spat at Hung.

"Big talk, little girl!" Hung said tugging at her ropes. He and Uriko started arguing with eachother as Xie stepped away from their bickering to talk.

"There are you satisfied? Now tell us where to meet you at the pit or I let my companion tear into the girl." He was getting annoyed by the invreasing noise coming from behind him.

"Fine, the pit isn't in a fixed location, that's how it stays hidden. Meet me at the north end docks. My Companion is arranging things for tonight's event so there will be no interruptions, and no surprises." She said as flatly as ever. She could here Uriko shouting in the background so it eased her mind knowing the girl was safe. Suddenly bickering became roars and wild meowing.

"Will you two keep it down over there!" He turned to see that Hung had accidently pulled out the main knot holding Uriko secure and she was now clawing up and down his body swatting at his head and scratching his face. Hung tried to fight back, but the tiny girl on his massive frame was too quick for him to get a hold of her again.

"Hung will you just hold her down, she's a little girl for crying out loud! Now then the north end docks, tonight." He confirmed over then phone.

"That's correct. Bring the girl unharmed and you will have your entrance into the pit. However I warn you. Anything out of place and we will shut the entire operation down. Every fighter in the city associated with us will receive strict instructions not to participate in any fighting until you are gone. Am I understood?" She finished sternly. Xie hissed at the thought of all of this effort being for nothing and assured her that they would hold up their end of the bargan if she did the same. He was still vexed by the difficulty Hung was having containg the girl. He finally managed to grab her, but Uriko wasn't above biting his fingers or clawing at his chest and face with the claws of her feet. The two continued to shout, roar and growl as they faught around the room.

"Glad we have an understanding. I will see you there at sundown." Shina said sternly with a smirk.

"At sundown then." Xie finished before hanging up the phone.

"Hung, how can one child cause you so much trouble?" Xie said grabbing the rope and joining the tussle. It took both of them to hold her still long enough to tie her back down.

"Xie…" Hung started with heavy breathing. Xie just looked at him waitng for his statement. "I hate cats…" he said before leaving to dress his wounds. Xie simply looked at the girl who was staring daggers at him defore leaving the room with a scoff.

The day passed quickly, now that everything was finally coming together. Long returned to the hospital to inform Uriko's family about what was going to happen.

"Will she be alright? I know Gado's daughter is tough, but these men are ruthless." Alice asked concerned.

"She will be fine. She has already defeated them once before and this time, there will be many powerful fighters joining her to make sure Uriko comes home safely. We also have scouts on every major and side route to the docks. When they move, we will know it and if they try anything, we will be ready." He said confidently.

Mitsuko and Alice smiled at the reassurance Long gave them. Mitsuko still blamed and hated Shenlong for all of this, but was relieved that that he was (supposedly) no longer involved. The evening came to a close and Shina waited on the piere where they agreed to meet. Everything was quiet, save for a few sea gulls on the wind. Xie had been watching from a near by building for the past couple hours for anything suspicious, but to his surprise and delight, Shina had been waiting there patiently the whole time. He signaled Hung to come out and meet her, but not to engage her. He wanted to keep control of the situation.


	11. Chapter 11

"So, you finally show up. I almost thought you two had run off." Shina said with an antagonizing tone.

"Not now that we are so close to finally taking this city." Hung boasted glaring at her threw one eye.

"What happened to you? Are you sure you're up for a fight?" She said fighting back a giggle after examining the extent of his scratches and scars. Uriko must really have given him a hard time.

"That brat of yours is a handful, just leave it at that." He said with a growl.

"She gets it from her brother. Now where is she and your companion?" She demanded.

"She's with him. Where's the pit? I see nothing but small boats and open water. You know the deal! No pit, no girl!" He let out a small roar.

Shina was not fazed by his display. She looked at him stoicly, then pulled out a cell phone and made a call.

"Yea, bring it in." She quickly closed the phone and put it away.

"Well?" Hung demanded, glaring at Shina. She said nothing, but pointed over her shoulder into the distance. A large boat was making its way to their position and signaled this by plowing its loud air horn.

Hung looked with slight amazement as the large ship made its way to port. Xie stepped out of hiding with Uriko tied over his shoulder when he spotted Shenlong standing at the very front of the large vessel. As they got closer, Uriko spotted Shina, then saw Shenlong as the boat came to a full stop at the pier. When she saw him, she started to struggle against her bonds, much to Xie's irritation. She managed to work the cloth out of her mouth enough to call out to Shenlong. He looked down at her in reliefe for a second, then with fury at her being tied up and hoisted around. He looked at Shina and gave a nod before stepping out of sight.

"Everyone on the boat NOW! We don't stay secret by holding still for very long." She said walking up to the ship. Xie and Hung followed close behind with Uriko in hand as a gang plank came down to meet them. Once they were all aboard,Shina gave a whistle and they were quickly on their way back out into open water.

"Give me the girl." Shenlong ordered stepping up to the pair, with rage in his eyes.

"Not so fast. Xie said transforming one of his arms into a massive claw threatening to take of Uriko's head. "Where is the pit? You brought us out here on open water for nothing." Xie hissed and Hung transformed ready for a fight. Shenlong waved a hand at the helm and the woman steering the ship hit a button that opened the cargo bay doors. The group walked over to the edge and looked down to see a full set up of a pit and multi layered stands full of stectators cheering and waving money as a Bison and Rhino were going at it in the center ring.

"Excellent…" Xie said chingin his arm back to normal. As soon as he did, Jenny swooped in and snatched Uriko across the deck and away from her captors, where Scarlette was wating to untie her.

"There, now we have what we want and you have what you want. You want to fight in the pit? Then get in there after these two are done." Shenlong said in a threatening tone. The rage in his eyes made Xie nervous, but Hung was captivated by the intensity of the fight that was taking place. These were two of the strongest individuals he had ever seen, and they looked like they were trying to kill eachother. Finally, the Bison got the upper hand and won the match. The announcer called it and bouncers came to remove the Rhino from the ring as she got the crowd pumped for the next match.

"ALL RIGHT!" Hung shouted. "This is what I've been waiting for." He finished with a grin before leaping down into the pit. "Soon this will all be mine!" He boasted to the crowd who cheared at his enthusiasm. Hung loved the attention and transformed, roaring a challenge to the crowd. His call was answered quickly, but Shenlong took over the mic.

"Because of all you did just to get here, we decided not to keep you waiting." Shenlong said with a sinister smurk. "You get to face the King in your first fight." He finished, cracking his knuckles loudly.

"I'd have it no other way. Bring the wimp out" Hung said looking around the upper levels of the arena.

"You're looking at him." Shenlong shouted threateningly. Hung's excitement dropped a little remembering the last time he comfronted this guy, but tried to keep a bold face.

"Bring it on! I've been waiting for a chance to put you in your place." He growled viciously.

With that, he transformed and wasted no time wildly swiping at his face and torso. Shenlong dodged every attack before stepping within his reach, ducking the swipe and landing a brutal punch to the large mans diaphragm. Hung doubled over holding his gut. When he bent over to gasp, Shenlong jumped and hit him with a powerful spin-kick that sent the bear to the ground groaning in pain.

"Pathetic." Shenlong spat. He wanted nothing more than to rip this mans head off, but Gado's words had sunk in for him. Uriko was watching and he needed to be an example of self control for her. That's when he thought about it; Uriko was watching.

"Uriko, come down here." He called looking up at her with a cocky smile on. She quickly responed and bound down to his side. He patted her on the head and was relieved to see her moving around so well.

"You do that?" He asked pointing to the scratches and scars on his upper body.

"You know it! This jerk should have known better than to mess with me!" She said folding her arms and sticking her tounge out at the groaning bear.

"That a girl. Come on, were gunna start your training with this guy." He said with a toothy smile. "Just follow my lead, and do as I do."

"You got it!" She said excitedly before matching his stance.

With that, the two of them stepped threw a number of stances building up energy and momentum in their hands and feet. Still dazed, Hung tried to swip at them, but they pair ducked it in unison before striking his midsection with a flurry of punches and finishing with a high kick to the face that put the bear on his backside again.

"That was so cool!" Uriko cheered high-fiving Shenlong.

"Alright, now its time to use what you already know. Follow my lead and go all out." He said proudly. She nodded in excitement, and the duo transformed.

Hung was enraged and wildly attacked them, but it was all for nothing. Shenlong met his charge with a sweeping kick that sent him flying over head where Uriko was waiting to land a flying axe-kick to the face. When he hit the ground, he landed hard and bounced a couple feet up. When he did, Shenlong grabbed his feet and started to spin him for a throw. Shenlong let go throwing the large man over toward Uriko where she dropped to her back and pushed upas hard as she could when he was overhead, launching him into the air. As he came back down, Shenlong stepped through his opening dragon form and stomped at the right moment to travel back skyward with punishing kicks to Hung's midsection. Once he hit the ground, he finished the move with a brutal back fist that vaulted him over toward Uriko who met him a cross kick and fury swipes.

Hung was beaten, broken and down for the count. Uriko threw her fist up in victory, but right when she was open, Xie snuck behind her and attempted to strike her with his venom tipped tail, but to his surprise, Uriko summersaulted back over the strike and stomped his shoulders. This slammed him to the ground before he bounced forward in a flip. Shenlong waited for him to be up right again before puncing on him. Shenlong lunged at him, sinking his claws into his clavical before flipping over his head planting his feet behind the scorpion and swinging him over his head and slamming him intot he ground with a wicked crack. Shina and Scarlette grabbed him and held him against the wall while Shenlong stepped threw his form for his most powerful attack. A flurry of punches and elbow strikes followed by a stom and a massive strike that hit with enough force to not only force Xie out of his beast form and embed him in the container he was against, but also send other containers behind it flying across the massive cargo area.

For Shenlong to use his finisher on an apponent was a rare occurance. So rare infact that most of the combatants had never seen it before. The crowd was silent for what seemed like hours before erupting in chear, applause and shouting. Javier and Gado came down into the ring and held Shenlong's hand up in declaration.

"Your King! Shenlong the Tiger!" Javier shouted out receiving a standing appalause. Uriko ran up to him and jumped on his shoulders hugging his head and waving to the chearing crowd that became even more excited at seeing her. Shina, Gado, Scarlette, Long and Jenny joined them in the ring for celebration and congratulations. Gado pulled out a flare gun and shot up into the darkened sky signaling for a helicopter to come to the ship. It landed on the barge as a Gorilla and a Jackle zoanthrope dragged Xie and Hung's bodies above deck.

"Here's the full report of what these two have been up to since they got here." Gado said to a man with the Chinese National Emblum on his chest. "See to it that they are brought before the Empiror and tried for international crimes." He said sternly. The pilot took the files as the fugetives were restrained and loaded into the copter. He saluted and took off into the distance.

"Those two will get just what they deserve. Shina said prowdly coming to stand by her father, looking back and Shenlong and Uriko.


	12. Chapter 12

Within about an hour, the boat was back at port and arrangements had been made for the containers to be reloaded the following day. Now it was time for everyone to go home.

Mitsuko and Alice had been released from the hospital and were helping eachother around the house as they waited to here from Long. They were doing the dishes when there was a knock at the door. Alice answered and was excited to see Long and a with him.

"Sorry to disturb you so late, may we come in?" Alice quickly limbed back from the door and called for her mother to come into the room.

"Alice, I'd like you to meet Alan and Shina Gado, Scarlette, Javier, and Jenny." Long introduced everyone as they came in and greeted the Nonomura women. "They all played crucial roles in retrieveing Uriko safely.

"Thank you all for helping to get my baby back." Mitsuko said struggleing to stay on her feet.

"Where is Uriko anyway?" Alice asked excitedly trying to look out of the window. Just then another person entered behind the group and Uriko jumped over their heads with an extatic expression.

"MOM! ALICE!" She shouted before grabbing both of them in a hug careful not to upset their wounds. The women hugged eachother and came to tears of happiness to have everyone back together. They were all hugging, talking and apologizing for the way things have been recently.

"Mom, mom, you'll never believe it! I got to beat up the bad guy and Shenlong saved me!" She said with a glowing pride in her eyes. Mitsuko and Alice gasped and looked to Long in concern for an explaination.

"Yes well, truth be told. It was Shenlong who formulated and executed a plan to get her back safely.

"It's true." Gado said. "I don't think it all would have come together without him.

"Mom, he saved me. He never stopped looking for me." She said happily. With that, Shina pulled him from behind the group as he was about to slip out of the door without upsetting them further.

"Mitsuko… Alice… I'm sorry for getting her involved in all of this. I never wanted to place her in any danger." He said sadly bowing his head before attempting to leave again.

"Stop right there!" Mitsuko ordered struggling to stand back up from the couch. Alice continued to hold her sister and stare at Shenlong. He turned to face Mitsuko, but kept his head down. She limped up to him staring at him with reddening eyes and to his surprise, didn't hit him.

"Thank you for protecting my baby." She said greatfully and grabbing holding his hand. "We after every thing we did to keep her from you, you never stopped fighting for her. And for that, we owe you such a debt." She said with tears in her eyes. Shenlong was dumbfounded, but couldn't help but smile greatfully back to her and take her good hand in his. Alice was at a loss for words, because while she was greatful to have Uriko back, she still blamed Shenlong for all of this. While she was lost in her thoughts, Uriko ran to him and hugged him tightly burying her head in his chest.

"You really are the perfect big brother Shen." She said happily. Mitsuko patted her back and nodded to Shenlong in approval.

"This is just precious." Scarlette said breaking the quiet from the rest of the group.

"There so cute." Shina added with a snicker.

"Who knew the big lug had such a soft side." Jenny added as the trio burst into a giggle fit. Javier and Gado placed hands on Shenlongs shoulders and chuckled with him. Even Mitsuko and Uriko joined in on the laughter. Only Alice was still quiet until Long came over to speek to her.

"He never did stop fighting for her." Long said quietly enough to not break the laughter but loud enough for Alice to hear.

"But it would have never happened if she stayed away from him." She said in response.

"That's one way to think about it, but I like to think everything happens for a reason. Whatever the reason, they were meant to run into eachother that morning, and meant to be in one anothers lives." He said with a twinge of pride. Alice looked to him quickly trying to comprehend what he was saying. "All things considered, I think no one would be a better brother for Uriko or a better sister of Shenlong." He finished before rejoining the group to praise Uriko's fighting back on the boat. After about an hour of talking and story sharing people started leaving, until only Long Shenlong and Shina remained.

"What are you boys planning for the summer?" Mitsuko asked while patting Uriko's head.

"I was going to assist Shina in her slef defence class before heading out to the country side for training and meditation." Long said smoothly.

"I'm leaving for the mountain soon for the same thing." Shenlong said warmly.

"And you Shina?" Alice asked wanting to join the conversation.

"Dad invited me to tag along on a trip to france for an international peace summit." She said with a smile.

"My, it sounds like you will all be quite busy for a while." Mitsuko said warmly. "Now the only question is what are you going to do all summer long Uriko?" She asked to her daughter's surprise.

"What are you saying mom?" She asked curiously excited.

"Well I've been thinking about it and it seems that you have made some very interesting friends. Everyone gave us their contact information incase we ever need anything and after everything from the past couple days, I'm afraid you'd get bored cooped up in here all summer. So I decided that if you want to, you can spend the summer training." She said with a warm smile. Uriko hopped up and hugged her mother around the neck.

"Thank you so much mom! You have know idea what this means to me." She said in a giddy voice.

"Well you're growing up and its time you explore a little bit and have some fun. Just promise you'll keep in touch. I want to hear all about your adventures." She said returning her daughter's hug.

"That's great. So, who's it gunna be?" Shina asked, curious her self.

"Master Long, I get to train with you all school year, so I want to go with Shen and try mountain training." She said excitedly.

"Alright, if your up for it. The nights up there get pretty chilly, even in summer, so be prepaired for some crazy weather." He said pretending to be stern.

"Sir yes sir." She said with a smile before running off to her room. She was over due for some conversation with her boyfriend.

"She's quite fond of you." Mitsuko noted.

"The feeling's mutual." He said with a warm look in his red eyes. "Well I have to go prepair a few things myself. We'll be leaving sometime tomorrow." He said standing up from his seat.

"Yea I have to get back too." Shina stood next.

"As do I." Long said and headed for the door.

"Thank you all again for everything you've done." Mitsuko waved them off. "And Shenlong… I know you'll take good care of her out there. All of you feel free to come by anytime." She finished with a wave before closing the door.

They all walked toward the down the sidewalk before reaching the point where Shenlong and Shina would turn to reach a subway station.

"Shenlong…" Long spoke before they slpit off making him and Shina stop. "Good luck with your training. I hope to see you at the end of the summer." He finished extending a hand to the clone.

"Likewise." Shenlong said returning the shake. "Who know's maybe well finish ahead of schedule and come join you in the country before comeing back into the city. The three of us can train together." He suggested.

"Mind making that four?" Shina chimed in. "I'm sure the kid will get tired of nothing but guys around her by then." She laughed.

"Sounds like a good idea." Long said with a smile. With that they separated. Shenlong and Shina talked about what kind of training he would be doing out in the mountain and even hinted that she may come up herself from time to time. They talked about beast mode training and Shenlong explained the benefits of spending days or weeks at a time in his tiger form so that everything feels natural in both bodies.

"Of course you know for the full experience, you gotta do it naked." He said with a wink and a smirk. Shina blushed a little then punched him in the face for the comment.

"What was that for? Animals don't wear cloths." He joked.

"So you're going to be up there naked with your teenage sister?" She asked skeptically.

"…Never mind" he said after letting that thought sink in. She just laughed at him for the rest of the ride. When they reached their stop, Shina was surprised to see him walking toward her building.

"Where are you going? Don't you live across town?" She asked curiously.

"Nope, my new place is at the top of this building." He said with a smurk. "Arnt you coming up?" She punched him again for the suggestive question.

"Actually, I was going to my own place. It's only a few floors from the top." She said proudly.

"Well then maybe I should come see your place instead." He said with a half grin.

"Do you never get tired of getting hit?" she asked before tagging him in the arm this time. "I think I'll stay at my dad's place for the night, just to be on the safe side." She said with a grin before making her way across the street.

With a light laugh, they both disappeared into the buildings. Shenlong showered and put on silk pajama pants to walked around his condo looking into Uriko's room. She had really made heself comfortable in there, loading it up with stuff to make it her own. They even got a real bed and a dresser for her so she would be more comfortable in there. He walked out to the den and turned the TV to a smooth Jazz music station and just relaxed on the couch for a while. After a few minutes of daydreaming, he heard a knock from his balcony window. He peaked threw the shades to see large cat eyes looking back at him. He pulled the shades and opened the door as she changed back to her human form and came in with a sports bra on and basketball shorts on and a disturbed look on her face.

"What happened to being on the safe side?" Shenlong teased.

"When I got into the condo, Dad and Jenny were…. Eeewww! Adopted or not, some things I just don't want to see." She said shaking her head. Shenlong fought back the urge to laugh.

"So you came over here instead." He stated still holding back a smile.

"Yea, thought I'd get a late night tour of your new place." She said with a smurk before walking ahead oh him.

"Help yourself." He said sarcastically waving a hand out for her. She took note of the weights set up in a corner of the main room and the pool table in the, the large TV and sound system. Suede and leather couches, an led lighted water feature and a number of awards and a few pictures were up on his wall. One imparticular caught her eye. It was a picture of him and Uriko at the gym messing toying around infront of a boxing bag.

"Aww, how nice." She said running her finger down the pictures frame. She laughed at him before making her way down the hall. She stopped when he saw Uriko's room and took in how much he had done to make sure she was comfortable. Then she moved on to his room and made herself comfortable on his bed.

"Nice place you got here." She said mockingly. He shook his head and smiled before joining her in the bed.

"Glad you like it, though I gotta tell you. I wasn't expecting a sleep over tonight." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well dad isn't the only one who can have some fun now is he?" She teased before leaning in to kiss him. Just as they were starting to make themselves comfortable Shenlong heard his balcony door slide open and closed again.

"What the hell?" He stood and went into the hallway to be tackled to the by Uriko who dropped her bag and pounced on him. Shina held her sides in a fit of laughter as Shenlong sighed at his rotten luck.

"I told mom I had my own room over here and that I didn't want to miss a minute of training with you, so she let me come over." She said with a she saw Shina in his bed she got excited and went in as well.

"I didn't know you were having a sleepover! This is gunna be so much fun." Uriko hoped under the covers and started talking to Shina about her room and their plans for the mountain. Shenlong stood in the door way and watched them talk and share stories with one another. He had to be the luckiest man in the city.

"Hey Shenlong, whats it like in the mountain?" Uriko asked entrigued.

"It's pretty nice. Some monks used to live up there before the city was built and theres a temple hidden up there. It's a cozy little place close to the waterfall." He explained.

"Wow a temple and a waterfall! Here I thought we would be sleeping outside on the ground. She said nervously.

"Not quite." He chuckled. "Even a tiger likes to have a den to come home to." He said mater-of-factlty poking her on the forehead. She giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. They joked on into the night, even played a game of pool and a few rounds of cards before Uriko gave into her sleepyness. Shenlong carried her off to her room before going to his own bed. He was pleased to see Shina had made her self comfortable and was starting to doze off. He cralled into bed with her and they fell asleep in eachothers arms. About an hour later Uriko made her way into the room as well and climbed on his back. Shenlong felt her struggle to get comfortable so he smoothly transformed and felt her and Shina nuzzle into his fur before all of them were asleep again. The next day, Shenlong prepaired breakfast and Shina elected to give them a ride out of the city.

"What's the best way to get there?" She asked moving to her own car.

"Actually we're taking the boat." Shenlong smirked. The waterfall empties into a stream that runs to a cove where I dock the boat." He explained. Uriko was pictureing the place in her mind and couldn't wait to see this mountain paradise.

After a train ride, a short walk, and a relaxing boat ride, the trio had reached the place. The cove exceeded Uriko's expectations. The water was clear and full of fish. The stream flowed into the bay from inside a cave that housed the network of underground rivers and streames that ran throughout the mountain. They spent a few hours playing in the water and snapping photo's for Uriko to show her family at the end of the summer. Shenlong showed Uriko how to catch fish with her claws and how to tell what the weather will be like by looking at the waves and the clouds. As the sun started to set, he made a final round securing the boat before instructing Uriko to take her cat form and follow him into the forest. She and Shina did as instructed and followed him to the temple. They passed threw the dense forest quickly in the orange light of the sun and even had time to pause and observe tracks in the soft ground and tell what kind of animals were in the forest this summer. When the sun was nearing its lowest point, the animal night life came alive and a fog started to fill the area. Just as Uriko was getting tired of running, Shenlong stopped and pulled aside some brush to reviel a surprisingly well kept temple. The pillers were a bright red, the grass healthy and soft. A simple yet ornate bridge passed over a section of the downhill stream that cut threw the grounds. There was a stone flored training ground on eitherside of a path that led up to the main building. When they got inside, Shenlong started lighting slow burning cangles and oil lamps to light the prayer area that housed a large stone Buddha. The bamboo floor was lightly aged, but the red and gold pain was still pretty well preserved. There was a kitchen with a wood stove. Shenlong took the liberty of adding and ice box to store food and keep it safe from curious creatures of the forest. The dining area had a low table with green sitting mats and clay dishes and a sky light that ran the length of the room to let in moon and sunlight at any time of day or night. The sleeping quarters were about the size as Uriko's room in Shenlong's condo. They had less firm bamboo floors and a single round jade window in each room. The support beams of the building were read with jade green bases.

"Wow… Shenlong this place is beautiful!" Shina said still taking all of it in. Uriko was speechless, she just wanted to explore the building and see what it must have been like when the monks were around. At the end of the tour, Shenlong took them to the tiled roof that over looked the side of the mountain. When the moon was risen and bright, they could even see the waterfall from there.

"Shen, this place is amazing. Thank you for bringing me here to train with you.

"Why hasn't anyone been able to find this place?" Shina asked looking out into the distance.

"The terrain around here is rough and dangerous for people. A lot of sheer rock faces and some pretty nasty falls if you're not careful. There used to be a path straight here from a small shrine at the base of the mountain close to the city. But over time, trees grew and the stream carved away large portions of the ground until this place became unaccessable. The dense fog makes it almost invisible to aircraft that might come looking for it too." He explained looking straight up

"Then how am I supposed to get back smart one?" She teased.

"What do you mean how? Leopards are excellent tree climbers and more nimble than most." He complimented. Shina giggled at the flattery.

"True enough, but how will I know which way to go?" She asked. Shenlong chuckled at her before moving over to the court yard. The girls followed him and listeed as he pointed out a compass stone in the ground. The temple faced northwest, and the stone pointed directly north.

"If you go west from here, you will reach the shrine at the base of the mountain. It's a ways away from the city, so you will have to call for a ride back. If you get lost, just follow the smell of burning incents. People leave them at the shrine to pay there respects." He explained in an almost flirtaios tone. He was so preoccupied with Shina he didn't notice Uriko slip off. When he did, he almost panniced.

"Uriko! Where did you go? You shouldn't leave the temple grounds yet. You don't know the area well enough yet." He turned his head frantically for any amount of movement, but saw nothing. "SHIT!" He transformed and quickly started sniffing the ground. Once he had the scent, he followed it into the temple. He changed back when he found her sleeping in the meditation area amongst the candles.

"Guess that bear was right, she really is a handful." Shina said with a snicker. Shenlong folded his arms and let out a sigh of reliefe.

"This going to be an interesting summer." He said scratching the back of his head.

"Hey Shenlong, so what was that you were telling me about the full experience of beast mode training?" She said with a wink before strutting outside. Shenlong quickly got the hint as she kicked her shoes off into one of the bed rooms. "Gotta love these long summers." He said before coming out of his own shirt and joining her in the room. Uriko slept soundly as the larger cats stripped naked and ran out of the temple.

The two played around out in the grass for a while and Shina often found herself distracted by Shenlong's nude form, certain parts in particular seemed to catch her eye more times than not. Shenlong was pretty well endowed in his human form, but seeing him like this, she had to wonder Buzuzima added some horse DNA when he made him. She was both scared of it and fascinated by it at the same time. It didn't help matters that as they pounced and stalked at eachother, her own… assests were on full display for him, and he was taking in every bit of it. Not wanting to start a scene with Uriko close by, Shina leaped over Shenlong's head and darted off into the forest toward the waterfall. Shenlong quickly took after her. He was right about leopards being nimble. Despite being the faster of the two, Shina effortlessly ran threw the thick brush dodging trees and vines, taking to four legs at times for the added agility when it suited her. Shenlong was fast behind and gaining. When he was just about to catch her, she vaulted and took to the trees traveling over his head Shenlong easily keept pace with her, his cat eyes able to captue her every move with the moon light to guide them.

Soon the sound of rushing water could be heard just past the tree line. Shina darted ahead in a burst of speed and Shenlong exploded from behind a bush skidding to a stop when he saw Shina's human form against the rushing water of the moon-lit waterfall. She was a vision of spray form the water had lightly coated her body and the droplets shone like diamonds on her tan skin. He watched every inch of her as she walked from him, her round perk backside could make a werewolf change on a moonless night, but tonight with the moon already full it served to effectively hypnotize Shenlong. She looked over her shoulder at him as she took dramatic, seductive steps over to the edge of the water pool and licked her lips just before diving in. Just as Shenlong was starting to come out of the trance, she burst from the water in a flash of golden light. The water exploded around her as she thrust her ample chest forward and arched her back and tail almost completeing the circle. She looked at him with those piercing golden eyes of hers and dared him to come get her.

Shenlong couldn't resist her anymore and ran to her full speed. He landed into the water with a huge splash and disappeared below the surface. Shina looked for him for a moment, but quickly found him, or rather he found her. She felt his clawed hand sliding up the length of her legs and thighs before finding their destination hold her soft round cheeks in his mighty palms. He lifter her, then brought her back slowly to him kissing, licking and nibbling the inside of her legs unti he reached her sex. She moaned in extacy as he lapped at her most sensitive of parts. The sensation was enough to twist her tail and force her claws to extend and retract with every breath. He moved his head closer to hers continuing to lightly tug at the fur on her body until he reached her full breasts. He suckled on them roughly and brushed her nipples with his fangs defore finally bringing his face to meet hers. As he lowered her, she pulled her body into position for him to slide into her. She clenched his massive arms as he was even bigger than she had anticipated and her claws welted the flesh under his fur as he went deeper and deeper still, until finally they were one. They moved with the rythem of the water in extacy with one another to the point where they had to move over to the grass for better footing. Shina peaked at least five times that night and only after Shenlong finally reached his were their bodies able to relax again and enjoy the serenity of their surroundings. Against the cool night air, the cascading water felt warm to the touch and was the perfect spot to take in the view. From their position, they could even see a portion of the city.

The next morning, they mady sure to return to the temple before sunrise in order to avoid an awkward and potentially traumatizing run in with Uriko. Shina took her cloths and left with a kiss for the shrine just in time for Shenlong to prep some of his rations for a light breakfast. Over the next couple days the two perfected her basic technique in both human and beast form. From there, he started introducing his opening dragon forms. He stressed the importance of balance withing the body and the mind. They spent countless hours meditating in various places across the mountain. Because of her inexperience, Uriko couldn't maintain her beast form for more than a couple hours, so part of her training focused holding her cat form indefinitely if needed even while sleeping. This as well as other aspects of their training were put to the test when their rations ran out. Shenlong intentionally only packed a couple weeks worth of food. He told her she would learn how to survive out here, and that included learning how to hunt.

Uriko wached silently from high in the canopy as Shenlong stalked a dear threw the morning fog. The young buck strayed form the heard for a soft patch of grass. It had a small limp and looked so helpless that Uriko couldn't help but fawn over the creature. She found herself feeling bad for the poor creature, and then faster than she could blink, it was gone. Shenlong pounced on the crippled deer and took it to the ground.

"Shenlong, no!" She cried out coming from the tree to aid the deer. To her delight, it wasn't dead but was definitely injured.

"Uriko, it's time for your next lesson. You need to learn how to hunt. Fish will only give you so much nourishment. Your body needs more energy to survive out here." He said sympathetically.

"But… she's so helpless. Look, she's hurt; we should help her." Uriko said hopefully. Shenlong looked at her with sad eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Uriko we cant do that…" He said looking for a way to explain.

"What do you mean we cant help her? It's a broken leg, all she needs is a stint and she'll be back on her feet in no time." She said becoming frantic.

"It's called kulling the heard. In order for the heard to stay healthy and strong, the weak and sickly members need to be removed. Otherwise, there would not be enough food to go around and the whole heard would be vulnerable to preditors. This one separated from the others on purpose. She knew she was too injured to carry on." He explained as best as he could. Uriko understood, but still didn't like it.

"If that's the case, why didn't you kill her when you pounced on her?" She asked shakily. Shenlong sighed and scratched his head knowing she wouldn't like his reason one bit.

"Because in order to be a good hunter, I want you to know how to take down your own food. With this dear you will learn where vital points are and the fastest, most painless way to finish your prey. Uriko gasped and almost came to tears as she looked into the deer's eyes and watched her breath heavily.

From there, they brought the doe back to the temple where Shenlong taught Uriko the basic anatomy of the dear, how to disable it quickly and how to get an almos instant kill. He warned her that more times than not, prey will not be so cooperative and will fight fiercely for its life even if it's already coming to an end. He taught her how to clean and prep the meat, which organs are best to eat and which are more wastefull and should be left for the scavengers. He also showed her how to clean the pelt and use it to keep warm on cool nights. This combined with constant lessons on stalking, moving silently and swiftly, and tracking potential prey.

Eventually the day came when Uriko finally had to go out and get them food. She had been able to catch fish and birds easily, but this time she had to get something substantial. She crouched low to a wide tree branch as she followed the heard of dear. She scanned the heard for anyone moving awkwardly or slower than the others. After about an hour of following them threw the dense forest, she picked her mark. The heard approached the stream and her target bent down for a drink as others periodically looked up and scanned the area for and danger. There was silence, only the sound of flowing water and the occasional chirp from passing birds. Uriko poised her claws and made her move. She lunged from above at her target. The dear quickly tried to make a run for it, but a few quick moves it was all over. Her first big kill pained her a little inside dispite Shenlong's praise, but they had been watching the heard for a while and she saw for herself that even though they were hunting the weaker members of the heard, new borns would have pleanty to eat, and the heard would stay strong.

Shina came to visit a few more times, even bringing Javier and Scarlette with her to help teach Uriko different skills not to mention the occasional late night romp around while the child slept. By the end of the summer, Uriko was on an entirely new level and with a fighting style all her own. She was stronger, faster, and more agile than ever. Despite all the hard training, she still had her bright hopefull personality. Even as the chill of fall set in around the city, it warmed Mitsuko's heart when she finally heard that voice.

"Hi mom!" Uriko called out glad to be home.


End file.
